English to English
by Jing2
Summary: Darien is a successful young British entrepreneur. So what happens when a feisty American blonde waltzes in and turns his life of one night stands upside down? Arguments & misunderstandings ensue as the two find that English is not always English! edited
1. The Meeting

_Edited and reposted Jan 2007_

Hey everyone. I know I know, I'm starting another story once again leaving my other ones unfinished. But don't worry if you've read any of my other stories. I'll get them done eventually, I've just hit another roadblock is all and unfortunately it is about 20ft high. But like I said all of my stories will be finished at one point or another and I hope that you all stick with me.

Sailor Moon does not belong to me however this story line is completely mine. It is completely AU so don't expect any spectacular transformations unless I get hit by a wall and decide to change my mind.

Anyway, on to the story and I hope that you all like it. DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!

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**Prologue: The Meeting**

Darien Shields was the president and CEO of the largest Advertising and Law firm in London, Red Rose Enterprises. At seventeen, Darien became one of the youngest students to graduate from Oxford University. At twenty-one, he breezed into the business world by merging the advertising and law corporations into one large conglomerate. And instantly became a hit with the tabloids as a rags-to-riches kind of guy. His ideas were radical and refreshing, his work ethic, impeccable. Never had his firm lost a valid case, nor do an ad campaign and all due to their boss, who swept into steal the glory from his competitors, and the hearts of adoring young women when he rose to the top of the most eligible bachelor list at twenty-five. Now, at twenty-nine, Darien had made a name for himself. His steely exterior, tenacity and ability to convince even a bull into adoring the color red made him one of the most respected and highly regarded men in Europe.

The young entrepreneur woke early that Monday morning to the sound of his alarm ringing loudly. He grumbled and turned over in his large queen-sized bed. He pulled a pillow around his head in order to block the barrage of noise emanating from the irritating alarm clock. He turned on his side once more and smacked the metal object, attempting to stop its incessant ringing.

A timid knock came from the door on the far side of the large room. Darien, trying in vain to beat his alarm clock into submission, mumbled an almost inaudible response to the person beyond the large oak doors that creaked open to reveal an elderly man in a smoke-gray suit carrying a silver tray.

"Good morning Mr. Shields." The man said cheerfully as he entered the room and placed the tray on a large desk by the door. Darien mumbled a response, finally giving up his battle with the clock. Frustrated, he lay back down, allowing his head to sink comfortably into the large white pillow, his hands came up around his ears as he tried to ignore the clock's shrill cry. Suddenly the beeping stopped and Darien opened his eyes to see if his mental capabilities had grown so vast that he could render the clock mute.

"Thank you, Eldon." Darien said gratefully as he realized his butler had saved him from the ringing monster. Darien looked over to Eldon who was now in the process of opening the heavy drapes covering the floor to ceiling windows.

The butler chuckled at his employer's antics. While he was one of the brightest minds in Europe, at times he was your average non-morning twenty-eight-year-old. "You know sir, that there is a button to stop that alarm." Eldon walked over to the large table and fetched a hot cup of coffee form the tray, which he handed to the now propped-up Darien Shields.

"Yeah…well that bloody button always hides from me in the morning." Darien took a long sip from the cup. The hot black liquid burned as it slid down, but the feeling was most refreshing. He returned the cup to its saucer as he began to rise from his bed.

"So obviously, beating the thing was the best solution at the time?" Eldon said jokingly in a sarcastic way.

"Isn't it always?"

Darien stood; the large covers tossed aside as his feet touched the cold marble, instantly cooling his warm body as he yawned and slowly trudged over to his large bathroom.

"I take it that last night went well." Eldon was clearing up the coffee tray: Darien's head popped out from the bathroom, his nightshirt un-buttoned, draped upon his shoulders. His chest exposed to a cool morning breeze that blew in through the window.

"Why?"

Darien was on the defensive. He'd spent the night with a 'lady friend' and returned late. But he'd convinced himself no one had heard him return. "Now how can you assume that last night went well? For all you or anyone else knows, I could have had a terrible time." He was definitely getting worried. He knew he'd had a good time, but the whole population of London didn't need to know. He'd come home late the night before and he thought he'd been careful not to attract any attention from his staff. True, they were loyal to him, but money does have a habit of changing a person's loyalty and he didn't need any more tabloid slander right now.

"Don't worry sir. No one knows exactly how much fun you had. Besides, it's just an observation. I mean, you did return late last night." _'With your hair messed up and shirt un-tucked._' Eldon chuckled to himself. His employer had seemingly embarked upon another late night jaunt. But it was nothing surprising, late nights were a norm in the Shields house. The only difference was that last night Darien had returned unkempt as opposed to his normal neat fashion regardless of the hour.

He sighed, he loved Darien like a son, but if this young man didn't change his habits soon, he'd be a single man all his life. While Darien was probably, the most dedicated person he'd ever had the privilege to know; this only seemed to apply to his work. Women were a completely different story. They were all attracted to his money and his looks. Granted he reveled in it, using the power he had over women to his advantage, but one day, Eldon was sure his cockiness would come around and bite him on the ass. And secretly, he hoped it would.

Fifteen minutes later, Darien emerged from his bathroom; steam spilling out onto the floor. He walked to his closet with a towel wrapped around his waist showing off his well-toned muscles while drying his dark hair with another. The moment he entered his walk-in closet, he disappeared behind rows and rows of suits. The only hint that he was immersed within the maze of stylish clothing was a slightly muffled voice calling out to his butler, "Eldon, could you please read me my plans for the day?"

"Certainly sir…." Eldon then approached the silver platter on the large desk and picked up a black organizer. "9am -- Breakfast meeting with Mr. Worthington in _La Rue Café._ Then at eleven you have to be in your office…"

"What am I needed for in the office?" Darien hollered out.

"Not sure, sir, it just says 'office, meetings, and secretary -- Sue.'" Eldon read out the cryptic message and hoped Darien would figure it out on his own.

Darien groaned, "That means only Sue knows what I'm going to be needed for today. Very well, continue."

"At 3pm you will need to head over to the Broadcasting offices for a meeting with the CEO of the company in one of the conference rooms. It says here that the receptionist will tell you where to go. At 6pm, you have a dinner meeting with the head of the cancer community in regards to your funding for the gala, and at eight-thirty, you have a date with a Ms. Graster? What an interesting last name." Darien finally emerged from the closet, finishing off his tie as he exited. "She says she's Brazilian, but that name does sound strange doesn't it?"

He stood to his full height and gazed into the full-length mirror to his right, making sure everything was in order. "How do I look, Eldon?"

"Wonderful as always, sir; now you should get going, it takes 20 minutes to get to _La Rue Café _and it is already eight-forty."

"Right, see you later then." And with that, Darien breezed out of the house and into his silver Aston Martin waiting for him in the driveway. He started the ignition and easily maneuvered his car into traffic.

---

One free breakfast and several office meetings later, the tall Darien Shields with his ebony hair walked into a cool air-conditioned office complex. The glass doors slid open as a soft voice rang high above the throng, the automated speaker welcoming its guests into the building. He walked casually towards the front desk. It was a sweltering ninety degrees outside and he was thankful for the invention of electricity and manmade temperature control, his shoes making -- soft clacking sounds -- as he approached the reception desk.

"Hello, could you tell me what floor the conferences are held in?" He asked politely, removing his dark sunglasses revealing deep dark-blue eyes, his suit jacket long forgotten in the back of his car. He waited patiently for the receptionist to get of the phone.

"I'm sorry, sir, could you repeat that?" A lady with honey-blond hair tied back in a ponytail questioned in a very strong American accent, her mouth taught, as she stared -- not at him, but at her computer.

"I was just wondering where the conference rooms are located." He gave her the once-over as he waited for her answer. She was a fair looking woman. Her blonde hair straight and smooth and her thin waist made her look more like a model than a receptionist. Her reply was taking so long that he began to doubt if she had heard his question and was frustrated when she began typing away furiously on the keyboard instead of responding to him.

He was about to repeat his question once again when he heard her voice ring out, "It depends on who you are here to meet." The girl moved her right hand to the mouse and began to click and double click all over the place. He wondered briefly if she was playing a game.

"Well, I'm here to meet with the CEO, Mr. Sanders." Her eyes lifted from the computer screen and she stared straight at him. Eyebrows raised, a look of disbelief evident on her face. She narrowed her eyes as if waiting for him to own up to his lie, or say something that would undermine his first statement. She looked as if she highly doubted someone as young as he would be having a meeting with the CEO. Finally, she straightened, continuing to glare at him, her eyes questioning his words. "I can assure you, I have an appointment with Mr. Sanders if that's what you are worried about."

He sighed; he obviously wasn't going to make his appointment early as he had hoped. It seemed as if this vixen was trying to make his life difficult. "Aren't you a little bit young to have a meeting with the CEO?" She looked him over. He was dressed nicely, in black dress pants that fit him too well to be store bought. The white button down shirt he wore neatly pressed and the black silk tie knotted perfectly around his neck completed the outfit. He scoffed at her remark. He didn't have to explain his age to anyone, especially not some receptionist.

"Aren't you a bit American to be working at the British Broadcasting Company?"

She scoffed and ignored his question, returning her gaze to the computer screen as her fingers flew over the keyboard "What is your name?"

He hesitated for a moment before answering her. "Shields, Darien Shields." He watched her type away on her keyboard as she hummed lightly to herself. He briefly noted that her voice was easy on the ear, once again wondering what was taking her so long and if she was doing anything productive. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me." He waited for her reply. "Excuse me." He was beginning to become impatient with the blonde, who had yet to give him any help.

"You're excused." She finally replied in an extremely calm voice. She tossed her hair and pushed her wheelie chair back. Crossing her arms over her chest, she looked up at Darien. She let her eyes wander over him for a few moments noting how the shirt clung slightly to his broad shoulders. She cleared her throat and smiled. "You never answered my question. Aren't you a bit young to be meeting with the CEO?" Darien growled -- the nerve of this receptionist. Not only did she probably play games all day, she was no help **and** she was questioning his motives.

"Do you know who I am?" Anger was quickly rising within and it was beginning to show in his voice as well. He wanted to get to that meeting and here he was, stuck speaking to an American receptionist, who had no manners and obviously didn't know who he was.

"Sure I do, you're Darien Shields." She had a smug look on her face. She knew she was getting to this very handsome man standing in front of her and she loved it. She enjoyed the look on his face. "Don't you remember, you just told me?" She chuckled inwardly -- not exactly, the answer he wanted. But in truth, taunting him was starting to get fun.

Darien stared open-mouthed at her. He couldn't believe the nerve of this woman. She was obviously toying with him and he hated being toyed with. "Look, seeing as you probably don't know who I am, I'm just going to ask again for you to tell me where the conference room I need to be is." He attempted to keep his cool. He couldn't understand why he was so utterly angry with this blonde. People didn't get to him. People just did not get to Darien Shields. He thought her beautiful, but her attitude was a completely different story.

"Hey man, you still have fifteen minutes until you need to be in that conference so chill, talk."

"'Man...?' 'Chill...'what is that -- some kind of floozy American talk…?" Now she was beginning to get irritated. All she'd wanted to know was why some one who looked no older than herself was heading to a meeting with the CEO and here he was insulting the way she talked. "Excuse me, floozy? I am no floozy and there is nothing wrong with the way I talk. God, some of you Brits are such asses. I mean, what's so great about saying 'bloody' all the time."

"At least bloody doesn't imply sending some one to go sit on a block of ice and cool down!"

The blonde was now standing up and leaning over her desk in order to get closer to Darien. "Oh, but its fine to imply that hell is completely full of blood…?"

"And what do you mean by that?" The two voices of the combatants were beginning to escalate with each comment and though they were no more than 2 feet apart, they were communicating as if they had miles to cover before their sentences reached the other's ears.

"I **mean** that you put 'bloody' in front of hell all the time. Why not just say hell."

"Oh my god, if you want to get into expressions, why don't you just call people fuckers instead of motherfuckers? Why is it so much worse to be calling someone a motherfucker as opposed to a fucker? Cause implying that hell is full of blood is nothing compared to telling someone they shag the others mother."

"It's a freaking expression!"

"Just like bloody!" The two were beginning to attract looks from passers-by. Staff were beginning to get annoyed by the two young people screaming profanities at one another.

"Fine…!" The blonde's high voice screeched out as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"Fine…!" Darien's voice bellowed. How odd this situation seemed to Darien. Not for years had he lost his cool, let alone with someone, he'd only just met. The two stood there and glared at each other for several minutes, neither one speaking aloud.

"Go to your stupid meeting." She spat out before harshly flopping down into her chair.

"I would if you'd tell me where the bloody hell it is!"

She stared at him and stood back up. Through gritted teeth, she directed him. "Take that large staircase to the main floor. Walk down the hall and take the elevator up-"

"Lift." He simply corrected her.

"Excuse me."

"It's called a **lift,** not an _elevator_." He said the words with disgust.

"It's called an **elevator**. It **elevates **you to where you need to go, therefore it is called an **elevator**."

"It **lifts** you to where you wish to go, it is a **lift**."

The receptionist sighed in an irritated manner; she rubbed her brow before continuing, "Take the **elevator** up three levels and go to this room." She shoved a piece of paper into his hands with the room number then sat back down and preceded to type away on the computer with renewed vigour, her fingers banging hard on the keyboard, ignoring his stare.

Darien glared at her for one last moment before turning on his heal and heading towards the staircase. "Lift…," he muttered under his breath.

"Elevator...!" she yelled to his retreating form. He contemplated responding, but realized that not only had he made enough of a scene that day, but also if he returned to argue with her again he'd be very late.

---One Hour and One Business Meeting Later---

Darien sighed as he left the conference room. His meeting had been an excruciatingly tedious one. Firstly, the CEO was not even present, save the first two minutes. Throughout the entire meeting his assistant had spoken. Normally Darien wouldn't have minded a bit. But, seeing as this assistant wanted to be so-called – thorough -- it took him a total of one hour to explain that Darien needed to find buyers for commercial airtime during an upcoming football fundraiser. It was a simple request that could have taken no more than five minutes, but the git had found a way to drag it on for an hour while the CEO was off dealing with other "important matters."

As Darien exited the conference room, he realized that after the first fifteen minutes of the conversation, he had zoned out. Not only was that very uncharacteristic of him, but the blonde receptionist had occupied his thoughts. He recalled how infuriating she was. The nerve of the girl to tell him he was speaking incorrect English in England…he was so taken aback, she was infuriating: she was loud, obnoxious, rude, beautiful, enticing, and distracting. He could not figure out how a nameless female could cause such a shift in his personality, nor was he going to try.

Darien glanced over towards the receptionist's desk as he left the large building. The girl's eyes were once again staring intently at the monitor of her personal computer. He couldn't help but allow his eyes to linger one last time on the blonde, who had managed to destroy his solid cold exterior so easily. He scoffed. There was nothing special about her long silky blonde hair and her cute face, nothing at all. With that, he pushed open the glass doors and allowed the hot air to break upon his face and ease his thoughts concerning the blonde receptionist.

He sighed as he strode towards his car. There was no point thinking about her any longer, she was out of his life. He wouldn't bother with her again. Next time he had a meeting, he'd find out all the information before hand. He breathed another deep sigh and opened the driver's door.

In one quick motion, he started the vehicle and had soon merged into traffic and sped towards his office. He needed both a drink and a talk with his friend and vice president, Andrew before dinner later that night.

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Ok, that's my first chapter of this story. I hope that you all like it! 

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love reviews!**

Tell me if it's good or bad…

NEXT TIME:  
The dinner meeting, a blind date, and a chance encounter…  
I'm pretty sure you all know who the blonde was, if not you'll surely find out soon!

Jing

©2007 Jing2


	2. Nagging

_Edited and reposted Jan 2007_

Hey it's me! I know it's been months but what can I say I wanted this chapter to be equally as great as the first. I want to thank everyone who reviewed. Thanks so much.

I want to especially thank KokushibyouOni for the suggestion bout the spelling differences in Europe and America...

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed and don't forget to do the same this time!

I do not own Sailor Moon or any of its characters…but I'd love to own Darien….

On to the story!

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**Chapter 1:**** The Nagging**

Darien Shields pulled into the parking lot, his silver Aston Martin gliding smoothly towards its usual spot. He quickly turned off the ignition, got out and locked the doors, his feet taking him quickly across the black pavement towards the five-story building. Rows upon rows of windows gleamed in the bright afternoon sunlight. A soft cooling breeze ruffled Darien's ebony-hair as he stepped into the building -- once again, silently thanking Benjamin Franklin for his wonderful discovery…electricity.

Darien calmly made his way across the lobby towards the large black lift -- his shoes clicking rhythmically upon the marble floor -- taking the quick ride up the three floors, before heading towards the end of the long corridor, the sound of voices emerging from behind each of the closed doors running its length.

Suddenly, two large oak doors were flung open as Darien strode confidently into his office, this wing of the building boasted a spacious reception area, his private office and two conference rooms.

"Mr. Shields, I didn't realize that you would be returning today," Darien's redheaded secretary, Sue stated politely from her position behind the tall desk. She sat straight with her legs crossed and looked at Darien.

"I didn't expect it either, but I'm here. Do I have any calls?" Darien lent on Sue's desk as she retrieved his messages.

"Mr. Worthington called to say that he had a lovely time during breakfast and would like to meet you again, for lunch sometime soon. Would you like me to call him and set a time for you?"

"No, that's all right; I'll make the call myself, thanks."

He then made his way towards his office before calling back over his shoulder, "you know, it's been a long day. Do me a favor, call Andrew and then take the rest of the day off. Just make sure to send the calls to the answering machine and have a good night." With a wave of his hand, he was gone.

Sue quickly made the call and packed up to leave. Simple things like that had everyone loving his or her boss.

Darien threw his jacket across the room onto a plush leather couch before heading towards the small bar in the corner of his office. He lifted a crystal glass from the top of the cabinet and a jar of brandy from the bottom. Carefully he let the amber liquor spill into the glass until it filled one quarter of the way up. Darien's large hands brought the crystal tumbler to his mouth, but before the sweet golden liquid could touch his lips, the door sprang open to reveal his friend and partner, Andrew Caldwell. Darien lifted his eyes to regard Andrew, the glass poised to tip the liquid down his throat. He took a sip, let his heavy body flop into the high-backed chair behind his desk and motioned for Andrew to do the same and take the comfortable seat opposite.

Andrew Caldwell, like Darien, was another member of the elite Most Eligible Bachelor in London club, vice president of Darien's Company and best friend of said president. Andrew's body carelessly plopped into the second black leather chair; his feet swung gracefully onto Darien's clean mahogany desk with a soft thud.

"What's up, mate?" Andrew Caldwell, the second most eligible bachelor to the block of ice staring back at him was an easy-going type of person. What one would call-- a pretty boy romantic -- he, unlike his friend, appreciated the finer aspects of life, namely women. And if day could be any farther away from night, Andrew LOVED a good joke or party. Andrew loved almost everything. Darien on the other hand would not have known fun if it crawled up his nose and did the Macarena. Andrew was convinced that **if **fun did manage to crawl up Darien's nose, it would surely die from all the negative energy. Andrew smiled and waited for his friend to move. It always managed to creep him out the way Darien would sit and stare unblinking for such long periods -- the next couple of minutes filled with an uneasy silence as Andrew continued to wait for Darien…hell, to move.

" Darien…what do you want to talk about?" Andrew was beginning to wonder if Darien had fallen asleep with his eyes open…again.

Finally, as Andrew was deciding whether to get up and leave, Darien stood and without saying a word opened his briefcase. Removing several manila folders of assorted colors and throwing these onto the desk beside Andrew's feet.

"Our new project, get your department on it. I'd like to see at least four advertisements ready to go by next Tuesday. And let's put one in for ourselves. Get our best artists on it. Have them test out a redesign of our logo and see about getting a camera crew in here and we'll try a commercial or something. We need to get all of this stuff done in about three weeks, so no more skipping out early to party, do that at the end of the month if you want, but I need you to focus for the next couple of weeks."

"Well, hello to you too, Darien. Yes, I've had a nice day and you? Oh, you want me too look at these files, very well, since you asked oh so nicely. And for your information, skipping out two minutes before six o'clock is not slacking, I work just as much as you do – sounds wonderful, free meals. Anyway, if that's all you need let's go out for some dinner, I'm starving."

"Andrew, we have a dinner with the head of the cancer society tonight to discuss the gala and then I have a date."

"Don't sound so disappointed about spending time with a beautiful woman."

"How do you know she's beautiful?"

"Well, would you ever date one who wasn't? So, let's go to that dinner, pick up your girl and we'll head out to a club."

"I don't really feel up to going to a club, Andrew."

"Well, what the hell are you going to do with this girl then? You can't possibly want to just pick her up, shag and run!"

"What's so wrong with that?" Darien sighed. This was going to be a long night.

Andrew threw his hands up in frustration. How many times had they had this conversation? How many times was he going to walk into this office, accompany his friend out for dinner with a client and then see him lazily slump off to shag some girl? "You stupid git, women can do more than shag u know!"

"Anything more than shagging seems to make them think they have something on me…."

"Or it could make them think you care! I mean, all you have to do is talk to them over coffee or something. You like coffee, share that love."

"I talk to some of them." Darien sighed, beginning to tire of this constant argument between himself and his friend. So, he didn't worship the money-grubbing, short skirt wearing half of the world. He liked their bodies; did he really have to love everything else about them?

"Sure, you pretend to listen, all the while waiting for an opening to work your charm. But it always ends the same way. Shag and run. You need to DO something, mate -- meet someone and have a relationship!"

"You're one to talk." The moment the words had escaped Darien's mouth he regretted it. "Hey, I didn't mean-"

"I may not have had the best luck with relationships, but at least I tried. At least I've tried…," He muttered in defeat. "Look, I'm going to go get my stuff; I'll meet you at the restaurant." With a solemn face, Andrew left Darien to his darkening office.

The door closed quietly behind the blonde. '_I may not have a relationship, but at least I don't have a broken heart.'_ And in the back of his head, another voice quietly said 'w_ho ever said you had a heart to begin with?'_

---Three hours, one long dinner meeting and a date later---

_'I can't believe I've been dragged into a blind date -- a blind date -- I'm going to kill Andrew tomorrow; and telling the head of the cancer society that I'd take his daughter out to lunch. He should have offered _himself_. That stupid git, trying to get me to see a "decent girl" come on, the girls I date are decent.'_ Darien looked at his date, the beautiful Sara Graster. So what if she wasn't the most modest person in the world. He was sure there was some redeeming quality in her.

" Darien? Are you listening to me?"

Darien looked up from his coffee and into her hazel eyes. "What? Oh, of course I was, continue." He was bored.

"So, as I was saying, when I was in Brazil I did this excellent nude photo shoot and in Italy had a wonderful little dip in the Trevi fountain." _'Ok, so maybe she wasn't the most pure person in the world…'_

" Darien, what say you and I get out of here and back to my place?" A wicked smile crossed Darien's face. _'I don't need decent girls, I'm content with these.' _He stood up, threw some pounds on the table and escorted Sara out of the small café.

---12AM---

Darien sat on the edge of the white bed lacing up his black shoes. The slight movement behind him told him that he needed to hurry up. He didn't want to wake his sleeping date. He stood up ready to go. He placed his hand on the cold doorknob.

"Sorry to see you go, Darien baby." He jumped and turned around. Sara was half sitting up in bed.

"Yes well, I have a meeting tomorrow. This was fun."

"But let me guess, it'll never happen again?"

Darien simply turned back to the doorknob and let himself out.

---7am---

"Eldon, we're going to have to get a new alarm clock." Darien said with a yawn, stepping out of his closet.

"Sir, the alarm has stopped ringing you know; there is no need to buy another one."

"Sure it's off now, but did it turn off when I threw it across the room…? No…, I had to take a shower to escape the sound! Where were you? I didn't get my coffee this morning and my alarm continued its incessant ringing. You need to come in here at six to save me from that monster!"

Eldon chuckled. "There's no need to be melodramatic. The alarm is fine. I'm sorry I was late, but you have a visitor."

"Damn, you mean the devil is still living? I swear it is still working only in spite of me. You watch, Eldon, that damned thing is going to out-live me. I mean, I was hoping it had broken after the third encounter with my wall and then maybe we could find a clock with a silent alarm, but NO! The damned thing has to keep working."

"You realize how ludicrous a silent alarm clock sounds, don't you?"

"Absolutely, but that doesn't stop me from dreaming now does it?"

Eldon chuckled. "Very well, have your dreams, but make sure you attend to your visitor. She's sitting in the dining room when you're ready."

"Eldon, I told you to never let in an old girlfriend of mine."

"Don't worry, sir. I'm sure you'll love this one. Your coffee is waiting in the dining room."

"Why?"

"Why, to make sure you go down stairs, of course."

Darien grumbled his way down the stairs. "Damn Eldon for keeping my coffee so far away from me. He'll be the end of me, I'm sure of it." Darien was inches away from the bottom of the stairs when a light, airy voice rang through the large entrance hall.

"I believe your mumbling will do nothing at this point. However, this cup of coffee may help alleviate your terrible morning grump. That, and of course, seeing your lovely sister that is."

Darien's head snapped up. He knew that voice, but his sister -- here to see him? It couldn't be. His sister, Raye, the one person he always had at his side while growing up, the one person he rarely had the opportunity to see nowadays. Raye was a skilled artisan, who produced some of the finest quality pieces ever. She was a born sculptor, living and working in Italy, the place in which she had honed her amazing talents. Her work was exquisite and rivaled the works of even Michelangelo himself. It was indeed a strange thing that his sister was standing in his hallway at that moment. The woman lived in an expensive villa situated on the coast of Italy with her beau, Chad and almost never left the cozy abode. The beautiful home constantly filled to the brim with finished and unfinished art pieces.

"Raye…!" His legs brought him quickly to his sister. He enveloped her in a tight hug and kissed her affectionately on the cheek.

"Careful, you'll spill the coffee." She laughed before bringing the cup once more to her lips.

"Hey, are you drinking my coffee?"

"There's a tad left," she smiled slyly, tilting the cup, to reveal the dregs. He sighed -- not an irritated sigh -- but one of acknowledgement and acceptance. He smiled.

"You're here for what -- one hour and already you're taking my things. What a horrible sister, depriving her older brother of his life support."

Raye laughed, she missed this. This playful bickering they shared. "Dear brother, you are only a minute older than me, and that is because you were much too unbearable to be around for a minute longer. Nine full months with you was enough. You had to go immediately. If it had been up to me, you would have gone seven months prior."

"How wonderful, you wanted me dead long before we were born," Darien said, giving his sister a hurt look.

"You'd want to keep well away from yourself if you saw how terrible you were in there, especially with only to feet to share between us was simply unbearable." Darien grinned; his sister always had the oddest imagination.

"Dear sister, I fear the fumes from your kennel have gotten to you. Never have I been unbearable." Darien stuck his nose in the air and laughed, the sound almost like a dog's bark, quickly echoed by Raye.

Eldon looked in on the two siblings. Now if only Darien could treat other women with the same respect he held for his sister.

"Just like old times big brother. Perhaps you should sit down with your lovely sister and eat breakfast while she pours you a fresh cup of life support." She tilted her head and began walking back into the dining room. Darien followed suit. _'Ah, wonderful black liquid life support.'_

---thirty minutes later---

"So let me get this straight. You're going to go on a blind date later this evening because Andrew thinks you need a steady relationship?"

"Stupid git..."

"And you've agreed."

"Stupid git..."

"On a date with this guy's daughter even though you've never actually seen her, so you don't know what she looks like?"

"Stupid git..."

"My, you've become grumpy again."

"Stupid git..."

"And with a very limited vocabulary..."

"Yeah, well you try thinking properly when you've got your best friend pestering you about settling down, I mean even you aren't doing that and you're my sister."

"Well actually…"

"Raye, if you start a sentence with 'you really ought to…' I will kick you out of this house."

"You really **should** give it some thought."

Darien sighed heavily. This was so stupid, why did everyone have to bother him about these things. It was his decision and no one else's. First Andrew, and now Raye, what was this world coming to? Some crazy, let's meddle with Darien world? He sighed; this was getting him nowhere except a headache.

"Look, it's getting late. I need to get into the office. You're staying for a while, right? Let's go for dinner. I'll be back around eight."

Darien quickly left his dining room and sister behind, very much aware that falling silent mid-conversation wasn't necessarily the best idea in the world, but he had to go. Besides, it really was getting late and he was due back at the office.

---Lunch- La Rue Café---

Darien strolled calmly into the café. La Rue was a charming eatery and quickly becoming a regular haunt in his book, with its elegant atmosphere and wonderful food. The sunlight filtered into the cozy place through tasteful stained-glass windows situated high upon the walls. He walked over to the hostess standing buy a set of thick velvet drapes separating the entrance hall from the bar and main dining area.

He leaned casually on the podium and waited for the hostess to look up from her bookings. "Oh Mr. Shields, how many will it be today?"

"Actually, I'm here to meet a Ms. Wellington today, is she here yet?"

"Yes, she's waiting for you, please follow me." The hostess led Darien over to a well-lit corner of the café to where a petite blonde girl was sitting. He looked her over. _'Hey, she's not bad looking.'_ "Your waiter will be with you shortly." The hostess placed a second menu on the table and left the two patrons to meet. Darien looked at her frame once more. He hoped she wouldn't be a waste of time.

"Mr. Shields, it's nice to meet you, my name is Mina Wellington."

The girl stood to greet him. He was surprised to see such a well-put together person in his presence. Normally, the women he dated were more … superficial and falsely cultured, but this woman looked like she knew more than fashion. He smiled at her. He looked at her again, and liked what he saw. "Please, call me Darien, Ms. Wellington." He pulled the chair out from the small table and sat down. "I was under the impression that this was a date, so please do not be so formal."

"Yes well, to be honest, I'm not very interested in dating you, Mr. Shields. I'm afraid my father misled you. But to allow myself to be seduced by you, my father thinks that what I need is a rich husband. I mean no offence that is, I'm sure you're a wonderful man, but I'd rather get to know someone on my own, and to be honest, you do not have the best track record for making female friends." Darien wasn't sure if he should be offended, or impressed by the amount of self-confidence this woman displayed. He frowned, this woman had just called him a womanizer…, was it that obvious to everyone? "Please Mr. Shields, I mean no offence, but my father feels I need a husband so I will stop working, but that is simply not something I wish for myself."

"You disagree with your father Ms. Wellington?"

"Very much so, I do not want to marry someone for their money, only to spend the rest of my days sitting and smiling at people that pass me by. I want to make a name for myself, I'm sure you can understand that."

Darien nodded, that he could. He looked into the eyes of the woman sitting opposite him and saw the same fire that burned within himself when he was younger. He saw the same desire to break away from what was expected and destroy the barrier suppressing every other desire in life. "I understand." He stated simply, genuinely relating to the woman across the table from him.

"I'm glad you said that and I do hope this has not been too much of an inconvenience. I also hope that one day you and I will meet on terms that are more casual; you are an interesting person, Mr. Shields. I'll leave you to your lunch now. Good day."

"Now wait a minute. Where do you think you are going?" Mina had already stood and begun to collect her things.

"I don't want to bother you any more today, Mr. Shields."

"Please, you're not a bother. In fact, you are quite a refreshing person to meet. And as I said, I understand, you want to break away from what your father thinks you should do. Please sit, have lunch with me, you said just a moment ago that you hoped we could meet under circumstances that are more casual. Well, what better time than the present." Darien stood up and removed her coat. "It is nice to meet you, Ms. Wellington; I hope that we can become friends." Darien gave her a reassuring and sincere smile.

Mina stared at him for a moment, a friendship with the infamous Darien Shields, huh? She smiled, "call me Mina." With those simple words, a friendship was born. _'He's not as bad as everyone says.' _"So what's good here?"

Darien smiled. A friend, yes, this was what he needed, a friend, and one with ideas like him who did not want to be tied down and reminded him so much of himself. He smiled to himself. _'Darien, you smart chum, good idea to make a friend who won't lecture you.'_

After a few moments, a waiter came up behind Darien with pen and pad in hand. "Hello, my name is Serena, may I take your orders?"

Darien winced, that voice sounded horribly familiar, and to his utter horror, he turned to face none other than the obnoxious American from the broadcasting station. _'She's beautiful you know'_ that annoying voice said in his head. _'I wish you'd stop talking to me,' _he chided himself. _'A cute accent,' _the voice cut in"What are you doing here!" _' Darien, why are you confronting a waiter...,' _his inner voice probed. _'Hey, little voice in my head…SHUT UP!'_

"Hey, it's LIFT boy. I see not only do you not like being corrected in your speaking, but it seems you have yet to grasp the fact that some people need to work for a living."

Mina sat there staring as the strange event-taking place before her very eyes…all of a sudden these two people screaming at one another in the middle of a café.

"Well at least I know how to speak properly…elevator…git."

"Well at least I don't dwell on stupid little incidents…dumb ass."

Mina wasn't sure whether to laugh or hide. What a strange and interesting turn of events.

* * *

Alright! Sorry to end it there but I needed to end it somewhere. Hope you all liked it! 

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!

I have the bulk of this story planned so…we'll just have to see how well I get it down on paper…

NEXT TIME:  
Trouble ensues as Darien attempts to get this annoying blonde American out of his head, and an unexpected connection is presented.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time!

Jing

©2007 Jing2


	3. The Note

Hey everyone! Jing here, 

I'm really sorry that the nxt chapter isn't out yet, I've been swamped, there is just a lot to do. Junior in hs you know, SAT's AP classes and I have piano auditions coming up. So I promise that the nxt chapter will be out soon It's half done..i just need to keep going. But I've made some dramatic changes to the PROLOGUE and CHAPTER 1 so this is a note to tell everyone to re-read those two. See I was thinking things over and realized that I hadn't done Darien's character correctly nor Mina's. So please please re-read the first two chapters. If you don't want to re-read the whole thing…the major changes are as follows:

**Prologue**: the first paragraph is added and will help build Darien's character (that's the main change in prologue, the other changes are just grammar etc.)

**And in Chapter 1**: please re-read the section with Raye and the section with Mina. With Raye, I've added some more information on their relationship (Darien an Raye and another funny conversation between them) and with Mina I've completely changed the way her character was characterized. I hope that you all read these changes and review if you haven't already! 

~Jing


	4. Golden

_Edited and reposted Jan 2007

* * *

_

**Chapter 2:**** Golden**

Mina stood up, she figured it was time the shout fest she'd been guiltily enjoying for the past couple minutes before the manager came and either fired this waiter or kicked them all out. She looked at the two, now yelling at one other from across the round table. Hair was beginning to escape Serena's ponytail and Darien's was beginning standing on end. The sight itself was enough to keep spectators at a safe distance. The scene vaguely reminded Mina of two hyenas fighting over food. _'Well, maybe they'll calm down on their own.'_ She sat herself back down and tried desperately to hide herself behind her menu. If those two were going to be kicked out, she wasn't going to be associated.

"Sod you!"

"Who says GIT? I mean is that even a WORD!?"

"YOU ARE IN ENGLAND! IT IS A BLOODY WORD HERE!" Spit was flying from Darien's mouth and Mina was beginning to worry that Serena's eyes would be expelled from her head at any moment.

"Well you don't have to **YELL!**"

"Who's **YELLING** **NOW?**"

"**_YOU ARE!_**" Serena pointed a long finger at Darien, her arm quivering in rage. She looked around for a moment and spotted something slivery with a pointed end. Her hand made a quick reach for it.

Mina caught a glint of metal and decided that it was truly time to put and end to this bickering before someone got hurt, namely Darien. "Alright you two calm down!" But the two could not hear her over their own screaming, as that was what they were doing now, screaming at one another: profanities of which none had ever heard in such creative or vulgar context before were being exchanged like money in a casino. Serena's hand was hidden behind the pot of flowers but Mina was sure that her hand was clasped over some sort of weapon. She had to end this before blood was drawn.

A loud whistling suddenly brought the childish bickering to a standstill. Mina removed her fingers from her mouth and sighed. "That is **enough**. The two of you are you are acting like five year olds. Now I dare the both of you to take a look in a mirror because at this moment neither of you look civilized let alone like adults." Mina sat down with a stern look on her face and waited for Darien to do the same. He growled and shot one last glare at Serena before roughly sitting himself down. Serena, who had jumped and now looked as if she had just been slapped across the face, picked up what she had been holding and shoved it into her pocket. The object Mina had feared was a knife had simply turned out to be a silver pen.

"I'm going on my lunch break." With that said she stormed off to the exit. Mina watched her throw her note pad onto the hostess' podium before hanging her apron on the coat hanger and leaving in a huff.

"That stupid girl, now what do we do about ordering." Darien looked almost pleased with himself that she had stormed out this time instead of the other way around. Mina smiled inwardly. Never had she imagined she'd see the composed Darien Shields, hailed as the calmest most in-control man in all of London lose such dignity in the period of only fifteen minutes. She chuckled. _'Guess he's more human than I thought.'_

Mina was thankful that after the little, well large fiasco, they were served. However, it did take Darien several attempts to gain attention from the staff. He went up and asked the hostess for a waiter, twice, went up to a waiter only to be ignored and finally giving up the pursuit in a civilized fashion, stood on top of his chair demanding a waiter; the waiters previously fearing a row with the tycoon now conquered their fears and quickly came so as not to anger such an intimidating customer any further.

---

"So, I hear that you are contributing to my father's charity ball next Friday. It really is a considerable sum of money. Are you sure you want to give all those little zeros to the cancer society?" Mina looked up from her cup of coffee and chocolate gâteau. What an interesting man she had spent the past two and a half hours with. She found it exciting to have met someone so like her and someone she could be comfortable with on a purely friendly level. She studied him; sure he was good looking; but there was no spark. While most women in the country fainted at his feet she felt a strange flood of comfort in realizing that he had no affect on her what so ever; and similarly, she on him. A comfort that came with this surprising friendship the two had quickly and easily formed.

It was no secret that Mina was a beautiful woman herself and had no problem finding men to shower her with gifts. But she was glad that Darien would not be part of that pack and had a feeling that Darien was happy she would not be one of the many to fall into his bed with him as well.

The two spent the rest of the afternoon walking around a nearby park. They talked about current events, ( Darien enjoyed watching American politics. "It's the little things you know? That a simple woman's body part can turn into a legal battle over broadcast delays) art, (Mina painted in her off time and is still featured in some galleries around the country. "One day I was so mad that I just threw paints around my apartment, a dealer came around the next day and thought that the couch splattered in every color imaginable was purposeful, so I sold it to him) the past, ("I've never needed to be engaged or in a serious relationship for that matter. My work is my one true love. I'll take an advertising case over a relationship with messy strings any day") and the future. ("I want a loving husband and children some day: a boy and a girl to be exact. I want a legacy, I want to be able to say, 'Hey, I did something worthwhile and right.'")

They talked about their jobs; Mina was a fashion designer. She owned a small boutique that sold everything from vintage clothing to new designs created by her. "Actually I went to University to study accounting but when I was taking my exams at the end of my first year I just had an epiphany. I was sitting there staring at all the numbers and just said to myself why am I here? I hate maths, always have and always will. So I got up half way through the paper and headed straight to the administrations office. I dropped out of the school that day and enrolled in an art school the next."

Mina and Darien were sitting comfortably under a shaded tree eating ice cream and watching the birds fly by the river. "You just got up during your exam?" Darien chuckled; he could see her doing something so rash. "Yup, packed my bags that same afternoon and set off to start a whole new life for myself. And I've never been happier."

---

For a while the two new friends sat quietly by the lake admiring the sunset and reflecting on their long day together. In a short period of time both Mina and Darien realized that they had each made a valuable new friend. As the bright ball of light fell below the horizon, Mina stood to stretch her limbs. "You know, I'm really glad that my dad had us have lunch."

Darien grunted in response before sitting himself upright; he had previously been lying comfortably in a patch of soft grass. "I agree, it's been a long time since I've taken time out of my schedule to just watch the sun set. I'd almost forgotten how beautiful it was." The sky had turned a deep indigo mixed with swirls of pink and blue. The clouds converged overhead as a soft breeze blew stray strands of hair into the respective eyes of the two.

As the sun said its last farewell for the day, Darien stood and playfully threw his arm around her shoulder. "What do you say to dinner?"

Mina smiled. "Alright but I pay." He smiled.

"You've got yourself a deal Ms. Worthington."

---Across town---

Serena threw her tired body onto the sofa and sighed. _'What a long day.'_ She pulled her hair out of the loose ponytail and lifted her head in order to breathe better. Just as her body began to relax and conform to the curves of the old couch the flat's intercom rang. She groaned and lazily pushed herself upright. _'Who could be at her door now?´_ She stumbled her way across the flat to the intercom phone. "Hello?" Her voice had come out groggy and tired, despite her efforts to rid the exhaustion from her mind.

A strained voice came from the other end. "Sere, I'm sorry to wake you, but I left my keys at the restaurant and my arms are filled with groceries. Could you please buzz me in?" Serena nodded, not that it did anyone much good, and pressed the little black button next to the phone before trudging back to the couch. Lita Collins, her roommate was the head chief and owner of _Le Jardin des Rose_: an exquisite, up and coming restaurant that mixed, sophistication, glamour and new age cooking together with fresh French methods of preparation that brought people from all walks of life clamouring for a taste.

It was because of the restaurant that Lita had moved to England with Serena from her cozy New York bistro. Her life long ambition was to be the owner of her own restaurant; instead of just the chief for one. Lita had fallen in love with London - "the guys are so gorgeous, how could I not?" - during a brief vacation from The French Culinary Institute where she'd gotten her training, so when Serena told her of her dilemma, Lita didn't hesitate to follow her across the pond.

Serena's tired form flopped once more onto the comfortable couch, which gladly accepted her with open arms. She snuggled up to the pillow and inhaled deeply. The fabric always smelt so refreshing. There were two major pluses to having Lita as a roommate other than the obvious friendship. The first being that Lita was a cook for crying out loud and as such there was always was good food available whenever Serena needed it. Secondly was that Lita was a neat freak, meaning that everything in the house was always clean, and fresh smelling.

---

Serena woke to the smell of freshly baked rolls. Lita's signature rolls to be exact; sesame-wheat rolls which were served at her restaurant. She slowly stretched her body and rubbed her tired eyes. _'Food will always be the best alarm clock'_, she thought. Serena gave one last flourishing stretch before leaving the comforts of the sofa to pad over to the kitchen. Entering the kitchen she reached over Lita's head to grab a bottle of "_Calypso Oil_", one of the best olive oils imported from Greece. After her first taste of bread and olive oil, Serena had been hooked. No more butter for her. It was green gold all the way.

Serena sat herself down at the counter and poured some of the oil onto a clean white plate. She dipped a chunk of fresh warm bread into the pool of oil and waited for the excess liquid to drip back onto the plate before shoving the chunk into her mouth. Instantly the flavours exploded in her mouth. There was nothing like homemade bread and some of the best olive oil in the world to make a long hard day worthwhile.

"Mmm, Lita, what would I do with out you?" Lita chuckled. "You'd survive just like you do at school when you're not bumming around my flat." Lita ducked the red wax apple aimed for her head. "Lita! I do not BUM around your flat. Besides, you love me and wouldn't have it any other way. Now, do you have any prochuto I can add to this wonderful bread of yours?" Lita smiled again before pointing to the fridge. "I just bought some, but don't take too much. I'm making dinner with it so don't eat it all. Oh and by the way, I'm having a friend over for dinner tomorrow which means you'll either have to control your eating today so you have leftovers for tomorrow or fend for yourself."

Serena's head snapped up and she grinned. Only one thing got her kicked out of her place. Men. "So what's his name? Do I at least get to meet him before I'm unceremoniously thrown out of my home? How tall is he? Have I met him before? What does he do? How did you two meet? Is he cute? Oh that's a stupid question they're always cute. Well except for Kyle, man was he ugly, and annoying, what were you thinking then? Never mind. Did he ask you out? Did you ask him out? Why are you cooking for him? Is this not your first date? Oh my god Lita, have you been dating someone with out telling me? Are you holding out on me? Lita, you're a horrible best friend."

Lita laughed. Serena stopped. "What? Why are you laughing? What's so funny? Are you laughing at me? Lita! Hey stop laughing! Tell me what's so funny! Lita! I'm serious. Stop laughing! Lita stop laughing! Get up. GET UP! GET OFF THE FLOOR! STOP ROLLING AROUND LIKE A FOOL WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!" Serena stomped her foot on the tiles. Lita was lying in fetal position on the floor, a spatula cradled in her hands, laughing her head off. "Lita it is NOT funny! Stand up! Oh for crying out loud at least TELL me what you're laughing at! LITA! DON'T POINT THAT AT ME!" She slapped the wooden spatula away.

Lita couldn't help herself. Every time the notion of a boyfriend was involved Serena turned into the world's most curious and inquisitive person. It was an inevitability of life. The questions were often the same. But it never got old and the speed in which the questions had escaped Serena's mouth today had been all too much. Slowly Lita propped herself up on her elbows, calmly she looked into Serena's eyes and said "Serena, you are too funny sometimes." Lita finally managed to stand up and resume her cooking. Serena stared.

"LITA!" Lita swiveled around. "What is it?"

"Tell me why you were laughing for crying out loud! And tell me who your mystery man is or I won't leave this house tomorrow." Serena situated herself back down on the stool behind the counter. Her arms crossed over her chest. Serena hated being subject to Lita's crazy mind games.

Lita smiled. "I'm just laughing at your quirky personality Ser. There's no one else like ya." Lita grinned.

"Hey! I am not quirky. I'm just different." Serena huffed in mock indignation before grinning as well. "So what _is_ his name?" Lita chuckled. There was no avoidint the inevitable.

"His name's Chris. Chris Weinberger. He's German; it adds to his appeal. His accent is so sexy. He's tall, got brown hair, hazel eyes and a killer smile." Serena squealed. Accents were always a plus. And smiles were a clincher. "So how'd you two meet?" Lita turned back around to work on dinner while she answered.

"Well he came in looking for a job which was perfect cause you know Karl, my host for Friday nights? Well he's just about to leave. And Chris has this amazing personality; I know he'll make the restaurant a nicer place for everyone."

"You don't think it'll be dangerous dating someone you're just about to hire? I mean what if it doesn't go well. What're you gonna do? Just fire him cause he wasn't good as a boy friend?" Serena resumed her eating. _'Bread, mmm, bread and pestering Lita, this is the life.'_

"Ser, you know I'm not that shallow. If things between us two don't work out, I'll make sure he breaks a couple things first to take things off the relationship; you know give me a valid, owner's reason to fire him. Then I'll sack his ass. Simple." The two friends grinned and began making plans for the "perfect" evening ahead.

---Friday 7am---

_'Miss, if you eat so many ice creams you're sure to gain some weight'_

_'Non sense, I've packed away 20 of these babies and I haven't gained a pound. See I'll stand on this scale and prove it to you.'_

Ring

_'Alright maybe a pound'_

Ring

_'fine two'_

Ring

_'three'_

Ring

_'Four! Five! Six! Seven!'_

Ring Ring Ring

_'Twenty pounds!'_

Serena woke with a start. What a horrible dream. Bloated, and in a clown suit. Not cloud nine worthy. _Ring_. With another start, she realized the cause of the insane dream. She grudgingly reached for the phone on her bed side table.

" Mm 'ello?" She rubbed her eyes and propped herself up against her head board."

"Morning sunshine, how's my favorite cousin doing?" Serena half smiled half sighed. Just like her cousin to wake her up early in the morning. It seemed he always forgot that she was a late riser.

"Very tired, and you? How are you my dearest irritating cousin that seems to adore waking me up at ungodly hours of the day?" Serena looked at the clock - 6am. She had barely gone to sleep 5 hours ago. Movies, good food and talking with Lita had been the cause of the late night.

"Ah, quite well thank you. I see grumpy is your dwarf for the day. Now before you can interject I have a proposition for you-a night out. Good food, drinks, dancing, and fancy clothing. What do you say?"

"I say, what type of business function is it?"

Since school had let out, her cousin had taken it upon himself to show her life in London. He was after all, the only family she had in jolly old England. However, due to his work and his separate social schedule, little time was actually left to showing Serena the sights. In its place, he chose to introduce her to the working world via various business dinners the two were able to work into their separate schedules. She wasn't complaining; the business functions were fun. It was free food and a chance to dance with various other people. It was essentially dress up time for a loving university student; a chance to let her hair down; or rather, have it styled up. But sometimes she missed the simple things. Little time was left for reminiscing over past events when you were busy chatting up a new client.

The few talks they managed to squeeze in were often in the car to and fro. And while she missed the days when the two would visit one another on vacation and just talk until the sun came up she had accepted that times changed and with age comes responsibility. And she knew also knew that some attention had to be re-routed to his manly parts.

"It's a really formal affair: a gala to be exact. Not like the other simple business dinners where I just wanted you to get a nice meal and some dancing. It's going to have a lot of important people going but because it's a charity event and so there'll be a bit more time for you and I to chat. Now I know you don't have anything of the type to wear so I picked up an outfit for you. Now before I let you comment - it was no trouble. Think of it as a thank you gift for going with me to those other boring dinners. I'm sorry I haven't taken you out for anything more fun, but this'll be the last thing I drag you to, promise. After this gala, you and I will go wherever your heart takes us."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's been nice getting insight into your life. I mean you live in almost a completely different world from me, and it's been really educational for me. So you really, really didn't have to bother." Worry was seeping into her voice. She knew her cousin was trying to save her money, god bless him, cause things were mighty expensive for her in London, but her cousin buying her a dress was NOT a good thing. Let's just say, she'd look better in a garbage bag than anything he would possibly get her.

She smiled, he meant well, she knew, but she really wished he wouldn't. "So it's settled, I'll be at your place to pick you up, Friday at around 5:45. The dress should be arriving on Thursday" _'damnit' _"And stop worrying so much because I can sense your panic. I didn't do the shopping this time at least not alone I had a friend of mine pick out the dress. It's really nice. Promise._"_

"Nice by who's standards!"

"Ha ha, very funny cous. I'll see you on Friday. And the dress IS nice, so you can stop planning your great dress exchange. Relax and go back to sleep. See you Friday." With a soft click he was gone. Serena sighed, she hoped his friend was of the female type, that or blind.

_'I just hope it's not neon orange. Please please just don't be neon orange.'_ With that last thought she flopped onto the large pillow and drew the covers over her head fully ready to return to dream land.

---Thursday 4 pm---

Serena entered her flat, her hair matted to her fore head. She shook off the rain from her coat and hung it to dry on the rack by the door.

"Hey, how was work today?" Lita called out from the kitchen.

"Madness! It's pouring like mad out there! That's the last time I make a delivery when the skies are starting to darken. Light rain my ass. I'll show that guy light rain." Lita laughed; sometimes the simplest things riled that girl up.

"I'm going for a nice long shower. I'm beat."

"Alright, just don't fall asleep on your way."

"Har har har" She opened her closet and grabbed a clean pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

She stepped into the shower and let the hot water ease her nerves. What a day. Delivering packages was no easy task. Nor was it her favorite job to date. Some of those packages were mighty heavy and the last one she had delivered was a killer. Just one more run her boss had said. One more run it was. One long run; one very long, very wet, very heavy run it was.

Running in the rain had long been a love of hers. But it was running in the rain when one knew that it would be another hour before dry clothing was available that made a person irritable. She sighed, at least that was over with. Tomorrow she'd be off. It left her an entire day to get ready for the gala.

---

Serena was just sitting down to a nice hot cup of coffee, waiting for her hair to dry, when the intercom rang. "Hello?"

"Delivery for a Ms. Serena Stanton." Serena cringed. The dress had arrived. "I'll be down to pick it up in a moment, please wait there." She hung up the phone and went looking for a pair of flip flops. "Going to pick up my dress down stairs, be back and then we can see how bad it is."

Serena walked down the four flights of stairs to the main entrance hall where she saw a man in a uniform akin to the one she had worn earlier that day. She pushed open the double glass doors and greeted the man. "Long day?" she asked as she signed for the package.

"Tell me about it. I still have three more runs to do." She looked at the man with pity. Three more runs in this weather was bound to take a while. "That's a bummer, sorry. But you've managed to keep yourself fairly dry." The man motioned to a very large umbrella by his foot. She nodded in recognition.

"There you go." She handed the man back his clip board and picked up the package. "Have a good day."

"You too."

---

"So from the looks of the box, it's designer. But that doesn't always ensure a nice looking thing." Lita nodded. The package was currently residing on the coffee table. The two had finished dinner and were now just staring at the box, waiting for it to do something. Serena secretly hoped that if she just stared long enough, she'd manage to brace herself for the impact. Or set the thing on fire, both sounded fine.

"Well, I guess you should just open it. I mean it can't be _that_ bad…" Lita gave a wary glance.

However, no amount of preparation could have ever prepared Serena for what lay inside the box. The moment the lid was removed her eyes doubled in size. "Oh my god Lita, come look at this." Lita, expecting a good laugh was shocked when she looked over Serena's shoulders.

"No fucking way! That's, that's …"

"Amazing." Folded neatly inside the oblong box was a spectacular dress. The champagne colored fabric was soft to the touch and satin-like. She lifted the gown out of the box and held it to her person all the while admiring the beading which covered the bodice. The dress flowed down past her ankles and shimmered in the light of the room. "I'll have to find a way to adjust it to my length, and hopefully it fits well, but … wow."

"Hey Sere, try these on for size." Lita handed over a separate box Serena had previously over looked. A pair of gold high heeled sandals and a small clutch purse just large enough for all the necessities was inside. "You gotta hand it to him this time Sere. He did a magnificent job."

"That he did Lita, that he did. I have got to thank who ever helped him pick this out. It must have cost him an arm and a leg"

"You mustn't forget Serena dearest, that your cousin is LOADED. So don't fuss over the price, fuss over how you're going to do your make-up and hair. You never know when you'll meet a cute guy. Now go, try that on, make sure it fits."

---

"Let me take a look. Oh Sere, that dress was made for you. It's a perfect match. How bout the length? Try the shoes, make sure it all fits together." She sat down on the sofa and buckled the strap-y gold sandals to her feet. They were unusually soft given their design and added a good inch and a half to her frame. She stepped in front of a full length mirror and smiled.

"I love this dress."

---Friday-5:20 pm---

Serena checked her make-up and hair one last time. She had spent three hours prepping, which in her book, was way too much time. (Lita had insisted on the works, manicure, pedicure in which clear polish was applied. That along with a facial, make-up and hair had caused the three hour prep. Sure it had put a dent in her wallet but as Lita mentioned, over and over it was a little price to pay for what she was inevitably going to get out of a night in which such and expensive dress was required.)

So there she was, ready to run, and there Lita was snapping pictures like a crazed mother on prom night.

She smiled when Lita announced the arrival of her "date" for the night. "Just **one** picture for the road folks." Lita smiled good naturedly. "Lita, you've got pictures all the way back to me waking up! Don't you think you've got enough?"

"Oh Sere, just _one_ final 'on-the-way-out' picture and you two will be off. You'll thank me later, I'm sure."

There was a snap, then a second and a third, and before there could be a seventh Serena protested. "Lita, you are going to **have** to learn to count! I mean you'd think after 24 years, a girl would learn how to count properly." Lita threw a pillow at Serena. "Alright alright, go" Serena smiled. "Have a good night!"

"She's really nice for doing that you know. With the pictures and all, I'm sure you will be thanking her later."

"Heh, as long as the pictures don't come out with me as a hideous creature I guess it'll be alright."

"Sere, you could never be hideous. You look amazing tonight."

She blushed. "Thanks. It's all because of this dress. By the way, who picked out this dress? Because it's far too nice to be something you'd choose."

"It's not just the dress, it's you. And you'll meet him tonight. We can both thank him then and I'm really not _that _bad at choosing outfits." She gave him a knowing look then smiledsmiled and slipped quite ungracefully into the limo. (She hit her head and let loose a few profanities.) The two cousins laughed their way to the dinner; some things like klutziness never change.

---Charity Banquet, 6:30 pm ---

Darien had arrived at the ballroom early in hopes of speaking to Mr. Worthington about the presentation ceremony, where he'd deliver an overly large check in front of all the guests. What he found was not only a ballroom full of early guests, as the gala began at 7, but a beautifully decorated room. He watched as waiters frantically removed roses from each place setting and rearranged chairs. In the entrance hall was a table of place cards, each one intricately designed to incorporate the Cancer Society's logo. He picked up the one with his name on it and proceeded to his designated table. After placing down his name card he scanned the room for Mr. Worthington.

Darien walked over to a group of flustered matriarchs and a very on edge Mr. Worthington. "No, no, no. I told you RED roses. It's Cancer, not bloody Texas. Make sure **every** yellow rose is gone and replaced with red ones. You have 20 more minutes I hope your waiters are quick." Darien smiled, a leader after his own heart.

"Mr. Worthington, how are you tonight? The ballroom looks magnificent."

"Thank you. And I'm very well my boy. Now who is this lovely creature? Darien, introduce us."

"Ah, yes. Mr. Worthington, Raye. Raye, Mr. Worthington."

"It is very nice to meet you my dear. I must say, Darien has excellent taste in women."

Raye smiled. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. It is I who chose to take him for the night. Do not be fooled by his arrogant male domineering manner. It is merely a show to compensate for his lack of creativity. Raye Shields," she extended a hand, "Mr. hot shot here is my brother." Mr. Worthington smiled. It was nice to meet such a confident young lady. "Well Darien, it's good to know that you have such a capable sister in your midst."

"That's a very nice way of putting it. Most people just call her a handful. Ow." Mr. Worthington smiled. Brother-sister rivalry was always never ending.

"Ahem, care to introduce me?" Mina stepped out from the shadows. Darien smiled innocently and pecked her on the cheek. "Mina Worthington meet my sister Raye, she's a sculptor who likes to hit me. Ow. See, abuse, it's been like this forever, ow. And it hurts too." He rubbed his arm, she was strong. "Introduce her you git."

"Raye, this is Mina Worthington. She is a fashion designer."

"It's very nice to meet you. I'm sorry you had to be near my brother. I'm sure you must have needed a long cleansing period afterwards. He can be a royal pain." Darien glared. How he "missed" his sister.

Quickly Raye and Mina fell into conversation about Darien, something he highly disapproved of, and their chatter pulled the two away to a table of drinks.

"So Darien, about the presentation of the check, I know it's just a novelty but I do hope you will comply."

"Absolutely, Mr. Worthington, it would be my pleasure."

" Darien!" Darien turned to look for the owner of the familiar voice.

"Andrew, glad you could make it early."

"Anything for you boss. But it looks like I'm not the only one who arrived early. Hello Mr. Worthington, nice to see you."

"Yes, yes. My boy but I don't see a lady on your arm. A handsome young man like you should have a beautiful girl on a night like this."

"Oh don't worry sir, she just went looking for a mirror so that she could adjust her hair. There was a little accident upon entering the limo. I'll go look for her and I'll introduce you all. You're all going to lover her. She's great."

"I'm sure I will. It's always nice to meet new faces."

"Yea Drew, go bring this date you are so happy to have. I want to see the girl who gets saved from your horrible dress sense."

"Ha, ha, don't worry she wants to meet you as well."

---

"So before after the food and before you open up the dance floor, you'll call me up to present the giant—"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going. Are you alr—" Serena looked into the eyes of the man she had just collided with. The color seems eerily familiar. "YOU!"

Darien recognized that irritating accent. "YOU! Miss, I'm in England but don't speak proper English. What are **you** doing here?!"

"What am **I** doing here? What are **you** doing here?" She was positively livid. She was hoping to enjoy a nice calm evening out and here she was staring at her worst nightmare, in a very nice, very fitting hand tailored black suit. _'Don't think about his suit! Think about how annoying he is. Keep your mind out of the gutter girl! He's annoying, infuriating, keep it at that.'_

"I belong here. What are you, a waitress here as well?"

"For you information Mr. I'm all high and mighty but can't even act like a gentleman, I was invited, by a real gentleman. Oh, and here he comes now."

Andrew stepped up to the two bickering children and threw an arm around Serena's shoulders. "Well, good it seems as if you two have met. Darien, I'd like you to meet Serena, my cousin. Serena, this is Darien, my boss and best bud. He's the one that helped pick this lovely dress out for you."

* * *

NEXT TIME:  
The gala continues. A clash of epic proportions…at least for our loveable characters that is. Another interesting turn of events.  
Don't miss the next installment of ENGLISH TO ENGLISH.

Review…meep…review…:-p

©2007 Jing2


	5. The Note 2

I want to thank everyone for their continual support of English to English you all have no idea what it means to me to check my email and find reviews even now after I've taken this long hiatus.

Last year I wrote an update similar to this expressing that jr. year was a lot for me to handle and therefore I was unable to write for long periods of time. I hate saying it again but sr. year is no better. I have an audition coming up in February and as such am trying to take time mostly to work on my piano. HOWEVER I am making a promise to you all that an update a REAL update of actual story should be out hopefully during the week of February 21st. Hopefully by the end of that week the world will be introduced to Chapter 3 of English to English.

Because of all the wonderful reviews I have gotten in the past I would like to give you all a short (probably to be edited out or changed) preview of Chapter 3. Btw, IT'S NOT PERFECT! In fact there are a lot of holes in this preview but here it is anyway. Enjoy and come back around the 21st of February for the rest!

**PREVIEW**

Darien recognized that irritating accent. "YOU! What are **you** doing here?!"

"What am **I** doing here? What are **you** doing here?" She was positively livid. She was hoping to enjoy a nice calm evening out and here she was staring at her worst nightmare, in a very nice, very fitting hand tailored black suit. _'Don't think about his suit! Think about how annoying he is. Keep your mind out of the gutter girl! He's annoying, infuriating, keep it at that.'_

"I belong here. What are you, a waitress here as well?"

"For you information Mr. I'm all high and mighty but can't even act like a gentleman, I was invited, by a real gentleman. Oh, and here he comes now."

Andrew stepped up to the two bickering children and threw an arm around Serena's shoulders. "Well, good it seems as if you two have met. Darien, I'd like you to meet Serena, my cousin. Serena, this is Darien, my boss and best mate. He's the one that helped pick this lovely dress out for you."

**Chapter 3:**

The two stared at one another dumbfounded. '_My cousin's best friend, the guy he calls the most intelligent man in __England__ is THIS moron?' _Andrew saw the tension between the two confused he stepped back a bit. He wasn't about to be caught between Darien's bad temper and his cousins razor blade tongue.

_ 'Miss __America__ is Drew's ANGELIC cousin? No chance in hell.' _

_ 'Wait did Drew say that this jerk bought my dress???' _YOU picked out this dress?

"Don't look so shocked America, if I'd know it was for you I'd have just let Andrew pick it himself. But I guess this means that you owe me." Darien gave a smile somewhere between seducer and monster.

"I'd rather have anything Andrew picked out for me than something **you've** touched before!" Spat Serena.

"Well why don't you take it off then." Darien now gave a very sly look. She did look very stunning. The champagne color accented her slightly tanned shoulders and her make up was simple yet elegant.

"Don't be sly Sheilds. You may think you're quite the charmer but let me tell you" she leaned close into him and whispered "I'm not one of your sluts" she pushed him back a bit "so don't even try to get any ideas. Just cause you have good tastes doesn't mean that you're not still pompous and arrogant." She turned around and walked away quickly with her own air or arrogance.

**END PREVIEW**

THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR SUPPORT YOU GUYS ARE REALLY GREAT FOR BEING SO NICE TO ME. THANK YOU AND DON'T FORGET I LOVE REVIEWS!

Heheheh

Suggestions and creative criticism appreciated. Have a great day everyone!

Jing


	6. The Temp

Wow, obviously I am SUCH a liar and for that I am SOOO sorry! I'm terribly sorry this has taken so long to come out! But I hope that it was worth the wait!

I wanted to write a special thank you to some of my reviewers who are either very dedicated to this story or just blew me away with their kind words. To the reviewers I didn't specifically write to. I appreciate your reviews immensely but these special reviewers gave me something to write back about. This doesn't mean I don't love you all as I appreciate and cherish every review and hope you all continue to do so (maybe you'll be up here next!) as even the smallest letter motivates me! So thanks to all of you!

Geminigirldani – thx so much! Glad to know you think my writing style is good :-D  
krys - thx I like the title too.  
lyss-ling – glad to know a scene stuck with you!  
Moonlightshadows – I'm so happy to hear that this is the funniest thing you've read in a while. That makes me smile. Thx for the review!  
asha - wow this is the best story you're reading? Wow, thx!  
connie - thx for telling your friends to review that means a lot!  
zeinab - hehe I'll try my best to make ppl happy :-D  
Starlit Warrior – aw man I made you cry lol thx for the review!  
o0 ChIneSeMoMo YuMeTeNsHi 0o – glad to hear you're excited! Here it is!  
CharmedSerenity3 – most def be finishing the story  
Xan – deary thx for being my beta of sorts lol  
Bradybunch4529 – wow what a great review. I'm glad you've been captivated that so wonderful to hear!  
BeckyJoe3689 – well I wldn't want you dying of anticipation!  
Amethyst-Heart– your review was great. Thx a bunch glad to know u get the feeling of the story

**Anyway hope you all enjoy this installment of English to English!**

_Edited and reposted Jan 2007_**  
**

* * *

****

**Chapter 3:**** The Temp. **

The two stared at one another; dumbfounded _'My cousin's best friend. The guy he calls the most gifted man in Europe is this moron?' _

_ 'Miss America is Drew's angelic cousin? Is he DELUSIONAL?' _

_ "_Oh you have _got_ to be joking!" Serena held her head in anguish, "In one minute I'm going to wake up in my bed and realize that all of this has just been a terrible dream!"

"So now you dream about me as well? Guess it's true, no one can resist the Shields charm, even nutters from the States."

Serena whipped around and glared. "You wish you had charm. You're only lucky that there are people around who are too stupid and uneducated enough to over-look the fact that you're a jerk!"

"Stupid and uneducated are the same thing."

"Don't correct me you pompous know-it-all!"

Andrew looked on in horror as two of the most important people in his life bickered like five year olds. If he weren't so embarrassed he might've laughed at the sight of two adults acting like children fighting over the last tub of play-doh.

"You're a pompous arrogant jerk who probably does nothing but sleep with women and spend money on useless objects in order to fill the void of an empty life!"

"Well you're an ignorant little child who doesn't know anything about what it's like to be a real adult and take care of yourself! You probably go home and watch cartoons thinking it the most intelligent thing ever!"

Darien fumed, how dare she say he had an empty life? He was successful, rich and had women fawning all over him, his life was complete, what more could he ever want?

"At least I don't see myself as a god!" She was positively livid. How dare he attack her in public! How **dare** he?

"At least I have reason to look at myself as a god"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Figure it out sweet heart." He swept back his hair in one fluid motion. This got him another glare from Serena's sharp eyes.

"Bite me."

"Don't mind if I do." He wasn't going to get mad. He was going to make her look like the fool.

"Ugh, get away from me, you creep!" She started to walk away before something Andrew had said earlier hit her.

_'Did Drew say that this jerk bought my dress?'_ She spun around. "YOU picked out this dress?"

"Don't look so shocked, America. If I'd know it was for you I'd have just let Andrew pick it himself. But I guess this means that you owe me." Darien gave a smile somewhere between seducer and monster.

"I'd rather have anything Andrew picked out for me than something you've touched!" Serena spat angrily.

"Well why don't you take it off then?" Darien now gave a very sly look. She did look very stunning. The champagne color accented her slightly tanned shoulders and her make up was simple yet elegant.

"Don't be sly Shields. You think you're quite the charmer but let me tell you," she stuck her face closer and spat out, "I'm not one of your sluts." With that Serena stormed off. For the second time in two weeks she'd encountered that, beast and come off livid and ready to beat the living day lights out of something.

Andrew turned to Darien, horror struck and hit him across the head. "What the hell was that? She's my cousin for christ sake."

Darien pouted. "She started it!" Andrew looked stunned. "She started it? She started it? What are you five? I don't care if a purple monkey started it you don't go around telling people they're ugly and stupid! That was rude and low and you know it. Now find her and apologize!"

"And Darien, stupid and uneducated isn't the same thing." Darien looked at Andrew with a murderous gleam in his eye; surprisingly he was matched with an equal look: one that replaced Andrew's normally cheery eyes. With out another word he skulked away with _some_ intentions of apologizing.

Serena walked around in circles, frustrated, doing the cell phone waltz. Finally she flopped onto a chair, annoyed, exhausted and without service. She growled and banged the phone against her head. "Ow, stupid move" she muttered, before taking a look at the currently offending cell phone. _'A bar of service! Thank you!'_ Quickly she dialed the number and sat waiting, hoping that reception would last long enough for her to vent.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, a voice came on the other end. "Hello, you've reached the Queen. I'm sorry I'm not available to answer your call right now, so hang up and call again later. BEEP" Serena rolled her eyes and quickly yelled into the phone. "Lita, stop making these stupid fake messages! I need to talk to you!" The sound of the phone being reapplied to a human ear was heard on the other end. "Oh, it's you sweets. Sorry, telemarketers have been buggin the place all night!" Serena sighed; Lita sure did have an odd way of dealing with unwanted phone calls.

"What's up Sere? Why are you calling me from a grand ball? Oooh! I know! You find a cute boy for me! You're such a great friend." Serena smiled at Lita's antics.

"Very funny, but don't you already have a boy of your own? Remember you work with him?"

"Well, things can change, you never know. Must keep an eye out. Anyway, why did you call me? Where's Andrew? Shouldn't you be hanging off his arm?"

Serena rolled her eyes. "I'm not a trophy cousin, Lita. And he's around here somewhere. But Lita, you won't _believe_ who's here!" She had a headache just _thinking_ about him.

"Oh my god Sere! You've met Hugh Grant?" Lita exclaimed half seriously.

"God I wish! Try taking another guess. Here I'll give you a hint. He makes me more annoyed, grouchier and more violent than anyone else."

"Cookie Monster's there?" Serena rolled her eyes. She wished. Cookie Monster made her much less annoyed than that pompous jerk.

"Try Mr. British himself: the almighty arrogant bastard or England. **And** to top it all off-he's Drew's BEST FRIEND! I mean, honestly, I thought Drew had better sense than to be friends with such an ass." Serena rubbed her head. Why was he getting to her so easily? She felt fifteen again-letting every little thing attack her nerves.

"Honey, calm down and explain this to me like a civilized human being. Who's there?" Serena sighed for the thousandth time that day. "That guy I met at the office and at the restaurant the other day: the arrogant one. He's _here_ ready to ruin my night. He started attacking me again! And you know the worst thing of all? **He** picked out this dress, which means that above everything else I feel like I owe him for this amazing thing I'm wearing. Lita I need OUT of here!"

Lita smiled inwardly. She knew she shouldn't be smiling when her friend was so distraught, but in all honesty, it was truly entertaining to see the calm collected Serena revert back to a hyper-sensitive crazy teenager. "Sere, calm down and take a deep breath. Two deep breaths if you need. Listen to me. You are in a beautiful huge place that has taken up probably more money than is going to be donated tonight. You're getting free food, you're gonna spend a night with your sweet cousin. You'll be dancing, smiling and lavished. So chill a bit and just remember this. That place has probably what a hundred people there with tables seating 10-15 people? You can stand one night of that guy in exchange for a night of extravagance, can't you? Don't let _one_ guy you don't even care about ruin a night like this for you. You look amazing so enjoy it."

"But-"

"No but's Sere. You were great at ignoring people you didn't like in high school and nothing's changed. You did it then and you can do it now." She nodded. Lita was right. There were tons of ways she could avoid him. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. She was going to have fun despite him. "Thanks Lita. You were just what I needed. I'll see you later."

"Any time Sere. I'll see you tomorrow, bye." Serena smiled. What a friend. _'She's right. I can do this. And you know what? Even if I can't I'm sure the world won't miss him.' _An evil image of an unconscious Darien lying helpless under a triumphant Serena popped into her head. She grinned and walked back towards the ballroom: content to enjoy the rest of the night.

---

Lita had been right. There had been tons of things to do and even though Darien was seated not five people away from herself she had managed to ignore him all night and even forgot him at times. After all, it wasn't a hard thing to do given all that she was surrounded by. She was awed when she found her table and sat down with Andrew. Bright red napkins contrasted with the cool white plates trimmed with gold. The champagne glasses were each accented by a single red rose placed in them. The centerpieces were works of art with various Cancer Society ribbons weaved into the intricate floral designs.

When the courses of food began to roll out Serena had been delighted to find some of her favorite things being served. A simple salad of crisp fresh greens paired with some light conversation had started the night out on a better foot than anticipated. After a while a delicious fillet of cod cooked to perfection had been served as the main course. Secretly Serena believed that the cod might rival Lita's, but would she admit it out loud. Not if she ever wanted home cooked food again, that was.

At half past eight Darien made his ceremonial presentation of the "giant check" and the dance floor opened up to the crowd so to allow them all to dance off the extra weight they had put on through dinner before dessert was served. Andrew led Serena around the dance floor gracefully as the music reverberated around the hall. The two cousins took comfort in the familiar and chatted aimlessly as they cut through crowds of other dancers (often quite comically).

After a good 20 minutes of dancing around the vast space, the cousins returned to their seats. Slightly tired, but happy, they continued to chat lightly.

"So, Sere, you'll be starting school soon. Are you nervous?"

"Drew, it's not the first time I'm going to school! I'm not five, you know?"

"You sure acted five earlier…"Serena shot him an evil glare but threw a smile in as well.

"Yes well. Your 'boss' is a right pain in the ass."

"I'll admit he's had his finer moments. But, in his defense, he doesn't normally act this…immature."

Serena frowned. "Are you implying that I've been acting immaturely?"

"I'm implying that…" he looked at her slightly angered face, "that…there is no way for me to talk my way out of this so I'm just going to say 'sort of'. And promptly change the subject back to you and your school. Oxford is really different from the schools you're used to, you know. We're much more strict here than in the States." Serena eyed him for his not-so smooth transition before taking a sip of water.

She decided to leave his little insult alone…for now. "I know it's stricter, more structured. That's why I chose it. You know I always dreamed of growing up here and going to school in Oxford. Besides, cousin, you forget I've been there before. Sure summer classes are a tad different, but, hey, I can do it!" She sure was something else. Being overly excited to start learning. He remembered his times in university…remembered how he couldn't wait to get out that was.

"Hey, don't worry so much all right? I know what I'm doing and I want to go to Oxford. Why else do you think I worked my butt off to get in?"

Andrew nodded. He knew she would be fine. But he did have to look out for her ever once in a while.

---

After some decadent sweets, Andrew and Serena reconvened on the dance floor this time to a faster beat. Serena smiled: she was having a great time. And to think, she'd almost let one conceited stick-in-the-mud ruin this amazing experience. Suddenly Serena noticed Andrew's eye fix on something past her shoulder. "Who are you looking at, stud?" He blushed at her unexpected comment; was he being that obvious?

She spun the two of them around. "Well let me see." She scanned the crowd for a girl that fit Andrew's tastes. "Well you're looking at either the blonde or the brunette. Am I right?" He blushed once more. Sheepishly he responded, "The blonde."

She smiled. How selfish it was of her to hog one of England's most eligible bachelors. Softly she pushed him away. "Go dance with her!" Like a mother ushering her child to the first day of preschool she politely shoved Andrew in the general direction of the lovely blonde before heading back to the table. Andrew stood in the middle of the dance floor stunned for a moment. "Wow, what a 180 on her part." With nothing better to do, he slowly made his way over to the woman he had been admiring.

Serena watched intently as her cousin politely introduced himself and helped the girl onto the dance floor. She looked nice enough; for a couple dances at least. "Can I join you?" Serena turned just in time to watch the stick-in-the-mud sit his rear in the seat beside her. She rolled her eyes and took a quick swig of her champagne-to her disappointment it was going flat. "If I said no would you walk away?"

He smiled back at her. "No such luck America." She sighed. Would he ever let her be?

"Look, I thought we had an unspoken agreement. I don't talk to you. You don't talk to me."

"Unspoken, not written." He was speaking to her back as she refused to re-orient herself to him. "Dance with me." She stared at him, shocked to say the least. It wasn't a request; it was a command. She frowned, the nerve of the man. Thinking he could just sit down and demand anything he wanted. Well money didn't win her heart. _'He can try that all he wants. It'd take more than that to force me onto the dance floor.'_

"It'd take an elephant sitting on me to convince me to do anything with you let alone dance in your arms." She huffed.

"What's the matter? Afraid you'll like it?"

"Afraid I'll like dancing with you? Dream on. I'd rather dance with a snake. Oh that's right. You are one. Well then I'd rather dance with a monkey defecating on the floor as we go."

He chuckled. He had to hand it to her; she was quick witted. "Don't make me force you. Come on, dance with me." She glared at him. He leaned in close to her, his hand on her shoulder, and whispered, "I don't bite; not if you don't want me to." She spun around in her chair. "I told you! I am _NOT _one of your little sluts. So STOP treating me like one." She got up and stormed off into the crowd. Not moments after she'd left her table did she feel a strong hand grab her wrist and pull her tightly into an embrace. She glared up at the piercing blue eyes that stared at her. "No body refuses me. No body runs." Looking around, she realized it was useless to resist. Any act against him would make a scene. Reluctantly she allowed him to guide her. But not before making it clearly know to him that she would like nothing better than to anywhere but with him.

"Relax, you're too stiff." She shot him an evil look. "You want me to relax? Then let go of me."

"No can do."

"Do you really like torturing me this much?"

"Maybe, just dance."

She glared at him but allowed him to move her around the floor slowly. She reluctantly admitted that he knew how to dance.

As the music filled her ears she began to relax: forgetting for a moment who she was with.

A soft whisper tickled her ear. "I'm sorry."

She stopped. The two of them stood still in the middle of the floor. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" She was suspicious. She couldn't let this false sincerity get to her. It had come so suddenly and had shook.

"I'm just sorry will you just accept the apology already?" She was struck with pure shock. He'd apologized. Sure, it was out of the blue and seemed almost forced he'd done it nonetheless.

Her mind was at a standstill, frozen almost at the absurdity of it all. Frowning she responded hesitantly "alright."

A little perturbed but otherwise alright the two resumed their dancing: slightly more fluid this time. As if a switch had been flicked on within her she began to feel the warmth from his arms seep into her bare ones. _'He's not that bad when he doesn't talk.'_

'_She's not that bad when she's not arguing with me.'_ At songs end the dancers broke apart, awkwardly but speechless. Neither wanted to ruin what little respect for one another they'd formed during the dance and so Darien abruptly bowed and stalked off leaving Serena confused and miffed. "Jerk."

---Saturday 11:56am---

Sunlight streamed lightly into the room. Serena stirred in her bed, the blanket twisted around her frame. Groggily she rolled over glancing at the clock. Reluctantly she sat up. She looked around her room. Not willing to fully relinquish the feel of the comfortable bed she stretched and promptly fell back onto her back. "10 more minutes."

---2pm---

Serena shuffled out into the kitchen, still dressed in her pajamas, still groggy from the "accidental" two extra hours of sleep. Yawning, she addressed her roommate. "Morning Lita."

"Afternoon, sleepy-head" Serena yawned once more and brushed the comment off. She grabbed a mug from the shelf and poured herself a cup of cold milk. "How was your evening?" Serena sat down at the counter.

"Not bad. Andrew was a great date."

"A shame you two are related then eh?"

"Ew!" Serena smacked Lita on the arm.

"Hey, did I SAY anything happened? Or that I wanted it to? No! I'm just saying it's too bad you two are related. I'd kill for a guy like him."

"Wouldn't we all? He's going to make some girl very happy one day. Let's just hope she knows it this time. Anyway, what'd you do last night?"

Lita smiled. "Boy, here, fun." Serena laughed. Lita was quick and to the point.

Serena sighed and reached for a muffin. "So, is he worth killing for?"

"Not a hundred percent sure, but currently he's worth injuring for."

Serena smiled. She hoped this one stuck. It was about time Lita found Mr. Somebody. Maybe this boy of hers would be the one this time. "Well? Name, age, height, give me the works."

The next couple of hours were comfortably devoted to some girl talk. The two discussed everything form Lita's new man (Nathan, 25, 5'11") to Serena's interesting night (A great meal, dessert 1 martini, and about half a dozen glasses of champagne).

"Oh Sere, it was wonderful. He even COOKED for me! He made this amaz-"

"He COOKED? Lita! You won't even let me toast a piece of bread! But you'll let some stranger touch the stove?"

"May I remind you which one of us almost burned the dorm down by toasting a piece of bread with PLASTIC on it?" Serena cowered under Lita's accusing stare.

"It was only a _tiny_ fire."

"Serena, the FIRE DEPARTMENT came. We weren't allowed back in there for three weeks!"

Serena blushed. "Well enough about me. Let's talk more about him. What did he make for you?" She flashed a winning smile and thankfully her subject change worked. Lita's eyes glazed over immediately as she remembered the dinner. A man who knew how to cook, could Lita ask for anything more?

The phone rang loudly over the two friends' chatter. Serena padded over to the kitchen to answer. "Hello? Yes this is she. Oh yes, um, let me get a piece of paper," she scrambled to find a clean sheet of paper and pen, "alright, uh huh, 203 Victoria Street. 9am, front desk. Current assistant Ms. Sanders will leave directions for me. Very well thank you."

"Another job, Sere?" Serena nodded and opened up a bottle of juice. "I start Monday and I'll be there for a good two to three weeks. It should be nice. I'll be an assistant. Better than clearing people's food, I'll say." Lita smiled. It was a shock to find out what job Serena had decided to take while waiting for school to begin. A temp agency sure was an interesting choice.

_'Temping as an assistant. Thank god! Finally a job where I get to dress nicely and sit in an air conditioned building instead of delivering boxes or waiting on tables.'_

"Sounds good, I hope you enjoy it. ANYWAY! Back to me!" Lita grinned.

---Monday 8am---

Darien stepped out of his closet clad in a tidy cream-colored suit. He took a quick look at himself in the mirror before turning to Eldon for his coffee. "Eldon, is my sister awake yet?"

"Yes sir. She's waiting for you downstairs for breakfast."

"Great, do me a favor and call the office, tell them I won't be in until at least 10. I'll be taking my sister out to breakfast today."

"Very well sir, I'll make the call. Enjoy your breakfast."

---8:45 am---

Serena pelted into the building. 203 Victoria Street and was instantly hit with a cool rush of air. She walked quickly over to the front desk, eager to find out where she would be working for the next couple of weeks.

"Hello, Serena Stanton, I'm here as a temporary for a Ms. Sanders."

The receptionist nodded and handed her an envelope. "Ms. Sanders has left you instructions for proper care of her work in that envelope. Ms. Sanders is our CEO's assistant. You will find his office 3 floors up and at the end of the hall. You can't miss it, he has his own wing of the building. Welcome to Red Rose Enterprises, Ms. Stanton."

"Thank you very much." Serena smiled and picked up her things, ready to face a new job. On the elevator ride up she flipped through the materials she had been given. An overview of the background of the company, as well as all of the duties she would be required to fill. She looked at the bulleted list. "Reception, organizing meetings, etc… That sounds easy enough."

The elevator doors opened up to reveal a large floor covered with cubicles – most of which were currently being filled as the company would open in just a couple of minutes. Soon she found herself face to face with large oak doors. A small classy nameplate was screwed into one of the doors it read:

_D.S.  
C.E.O  
R.R.E _

She opened the doors and entered the large wing. She marveled at the wonderful décor. Whoever the C.E.O was, he had great taste. She settled herself behind the reception desk. Realizing it'd be a good idea to know about the company she flipped through the background she'd been given. Red Rose Enterprises, the name sounded so familiar. Yet she couldn't place it. Her eyes scanned the pages "₤500 Million revenue" she whistled to herself. Whoever the boss was, he was rich! Closing the packet she sighed. She had read the booklet cover to cover and yet no where in there had there been any mention of the C.E.O's name. How useless.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a blinking light on the phone that indicated the presence of voice messages. She played them and began taking notes. One indicated that the C.E.O., a Mr. Shields, would not be arriving until later in the day.

'_Shields. Shields. Serena don't scare yourself. It's a common name. I'm sure.' _

---11am---

Serena was content. She was doing quite well, though her new boss had yet to show his face at work. However she was pleased to say she'd been handling herself quite well. Chatting could be heard beyond the doors. The sounds grew louder and louder. She straightened herself up; he was arriving, a good first impression was always important.

The doors opened to reveal the last person she expected to see.

* * *

Wow…finally right? Well, I really hope you all enjoyed this last chapter. So sorry for the insane delay.

I'd like to thank my beta Magali who expertly trudged through my work to help with the grammar mistakes. As always Review review!

Jing

©2007 Jing2


	7. Truce?

_Edited and reposted Jan 2007_

I know what you're all thinking…What is this? Another authors note? Well, sorry to disappoint you…but IT'S ANOTHER CHAPTER! That's right folks! 16.5 pages of pure English to English story. That's right SIXTEEN AND A HALF PAGES! Blows chapter 2 outa the water….pats self on back

This woulda been out earlier…but my editor(s) have yet to get back to me. So I gave up waiting for them and I'm just posting it now. Hopefully you'll forgive me for the typo's etc (I'll repost when it gets edited but I just wanted it up asap for you all and myself as well). Sooo….

shout-outs for Chapter 4!

Kaiba-Queen: Squeals Yay, I'm so happy I'm your favorite story right now! That makes me really happy. Thanks!  
AffluentHeartache: Thanks for the heads up, the change has been made. It is Stanton.  
Miss Jessica Rabbit: How's this for update speed? Hehe  
Jhuoiya: Well, I wasn't sure how good it was, so thx so much for telling me!  
Catz-13: Hopefully this saves you from dying, I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a reader!  
CharmedSerenity3: thanks for being such a dedicated reader. And don't worry sparks will fly while they're working together.  
Asha: thank you, from the bottom of _my _heart. :)  
Beastofnature: hehe Gollum moments are always appreciated. So excited that I have you hooked. Don't worry, any sexual encounters that happen between the two will be done tastefully and not too explicitely.

Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I really really would LOVE it if you guys REVIEWED feverously!! The more the merrier!

Now with no further ado.

* * *

**Chapter 4:**** Truce??? **

Serena gasped. Beyond the large oak doors stood none other than her cousin, flanked by workers vying for his approval. **Andrew**. No _wonder_ the company name sounded so familiar to her. He was the Vice President! But that could only mean one thing. She paled. It couldn't be. Unfortunately the longer Andrew stood there making executive decisions the more Serena was forced to grudgingly accept the horrid truth. D.S. in fact _did _stand for the infamous (and detested) Darien Shields.

Andrew signed papers nonchalantly and hastily closed the doors behind him effectively blocking the employee's path. Andrew automatically strolled over to a counter, to the left, situated with various teas and coffee. He contemplated over the choices he was presented with. Decisions, decisions: would it be a nice mint eucalyptus or some hot black coffee? "Sue, Darien's not in any important meetings is he?"

'_He doesn't realize I'm not Ms. Sanders yet…well as long as he doesn't realize it I guess I can play along.' _"No I'm sorry An-Mr. Caldwell He has yet to even arrive at the office today."

"Now Sue, how many times have I told you? Drop the Mr. Caldwell business and just call me Andrew." Andrew contented himself with a cup of coffee. His eyes had yet to come upon Serena and place the peculiarity of the situation. "Do you know when he'll be in? I have the proposal he asked for." He uselessly waved around a manila folder.

"Mr. Shields," she said the name with a tinge of disgust "indicated that he would not be in until later today: no earlier than 10am." She paused; her cousin sure took a long ass time to fetch himself a cup of coffee. Perhaps his brain had short circuited due to the _vast_ amount of choices he was presented with. I mean after all, milk or cream? Sugar or no sugar? One lump or two? Such overwhelming decisions…**_really_**.

"Andrew. Are you ever going to _look_at me?"

Andrew sputtered. Sue wanted him to look at her? Was she coming on to him? _'She's a married woman! She's older than you by a lot buddy. Get a grip. She probably wants you to look at…her new…skirt? What do I do what do I do?' _Serena stood up to help her chocking cousin, still oblivious to her presence. How could he be so thick as to not even recognize her voice?

She handed him a napkin to wipe up the little dribble of coffee that had escaped his lips during his short stint of insanity. "_Hello _Andrew. How are you my _dear _cousin!" Andrew looked at her in disbelief. _'Cousin, cousin, Serena! Thank god!' _

"Sere! What are you doing here? When'd you get here? Why are you here?" His gaze fixed past her and onto the reception desk. "Where'd Sue go?" His frantic voice replaced quickly with an air of confusion.

Serena rolled her eyes. My, was her cousin a blonde at times. "Andrew, it was _me_ this whole time. I'm here as a replacement for Ms. Sanders while she takes her vacation. You know, because of my job at the temp agency."

Andrew looked at her stunned. She was going to be working for Darien for a couple of weeks? _´Shit.'_ Emotions filtered across Andrews face faster than Serena could decipher them. What did she see in his eyes? Shock? Confusion? Worry? Denial? Fear? HUMOR? Did she detect **HUMOR** in his eyes? Andrew, suddenly losing all self-control, (and with no other reaction to commit himself to) allowed a large grin to cover his face.

"You? Be Darien's assistant? For a couple of _weeks_" His mirth could be contained for no longer and he soon broke into a bought of hysterical laughter.

Serena frowned and hit her offending cousin. "Andrew! Stop laughing! This is NOT funny! I have to find a way _out_ of this job! Or you may very well be out of an employer!" When his laughing refused to subside she whacked him across the head a couple more times. Slowly he began to yield.

While still stifling a couple of chuckles Andrew managed to control himself enough to respond to her attack. "Alright, alright! Enough with the hitting! Honestly woman, you'd think I was trying to mug you or something."

She huffed and motioned to sit down in one of the plush chairs that lined the wing. Abruptly she swung around and gave Andrew one more punch for good measure.

"Hey!" He protested. He had, after all, stopped laughing and deserved no such extra punishment.

"That's for taking so long to shut up! Besides, what is so funny? I thought you said that Mr. Jerk and I bickering was embarrassing and childlike! Why would my working for him suddenly bring you such sadistic pleasure?"

Andrew situated himself next to her in a similar chair; a fresh cup of coffee in hand.

"It is childish and embarrassing. But what better way would there be to make the two of you get along than to force you to work together in a civilized manner. I mean really, Darien can't rightfully go around his _own_ company acting like a grade school child now can he? I can just see how much he will be struggling to keep himself in control. Besides, you two are…interesting together. I'd love to watch you force out pleasantries daily"

"You really are a sadistic bastard you know that? Well, I'm sorry you won't get such a pleasure. I've called my boss and requested a change of jobs. Hopefully, today will the my only day of 'forced pleasantries'"

She scowled at the thought of having to be nice. How would Darien react to seeing her sitting there taking his messages? However she did agree with Andrew. It would be hard for her to force herself to be nice, but she was sure it would be harder for the thick headed CEO to swallow his pride; besides she had no reputation to uphold so If she were to lose it there would no lasting consequences for her. Darien on the other hand…she imagined his head setting on fire and spinning around a good number of times.

She sighed once more and allowed her body to collapse into an unhealthy position. Andrew looked at his younger cousin. These jobs seemed to be causing her a right bit of stress. It seemed silly to him that she would let someone like Darien get to her. She was never one to let outside factors effect her. Sure when she was in secondary school maybe. But she had grown immensely since then. He'd seen it. He'd watched her grow into a strong confident woman and it disappointed him to see her so easily affected.

The phone rang and Serena automatically pulled herself up to answer it. "Red Rose Enterprises, Serena speaking, how may I help you?" She had a pencil in her hand, poised to take any necessary notes. "What do you mean there's no way? You mean it's either this or nothing?" A pause while Serena paced in frustration. "Look, I really can't work here. The boss and I have … problems being around one another." She frowned how absurd! They couldn't get a replacement for her, refused to assign her another job. "No he has not molested me! NO I have NOT come onto him! What do you take me for?" She was fuming, how dare they imply something so heinous? "Fine." She slammed the receiver down on the base.

"JERK!" she screamed at the offending telephone before collapsing into the chair behind her desk. "Do you believe that Andrew? They won't relocate me! They say that it's against company policy to relocate a worker unless there are legal complications. LEGAL! Oh ho ho, I'll give them LEGAL" She screamed directly to the phone as if the callers could still hear her. "It'll get legal when I kill his sorry ass. LEGAL!"

Andrew got up to comfort his distressed cousin. He knelt beside her, trying to calm her nerves.

"Can't get out unless he molests you?"

"Yeah. God! What type of society is this? That they only way you can get out of an undesirable job is if you're sexually harassed? I mean honestly." She put her head down on her knees.

"Um, Serena. Isn't it a _good _thing that they recognize harassment?"

"Andrew, that's not the point. Sure it's important that they recognize harassment. But hell, there are more reasons to leave a job you know!"

"Like wanting to kill your boss." Andrew all but muttered under his breath.

"Exactly! Like wanting to kill your boss." She shoved her hands through her hair: forcing her breath to calm.

"You know Serena maybe it won't be so bad. I mean, like I said. He'll have to be nice to you while you're working here. He can't very well have his associates see him yelling at an assistant now can he? And besides you'll be nearer to me if you work here. I mean honestly, I practically live in his office. I tried to convince Darien to build a room for me in this wing when we first bought the building but he said that he needed to concentrate more than I'd let him." He gave a small chuckle at the memory. "I mean honestly does he think I'm some sort of terrible distraction? I work, albeit not as hard as he does…"

Serena raised her head and looked at him with narrowed eyes: a look that told him, simply, that he was rambling.

"Yes well. Really, it can't be _that_ bad. Besides, you need the job do you not? Just look at it like any other job you've ever taken. People can be jerks. You just can't let that bother you. You haven't in the past, why start now?"

Serena gave a meek smile. "You saying your boss is a jerk then?"

Andrew looked at her, amused. "Anyone can be a jerk at times. Just do your job and he won't have anything to complain about."

She hugged him. What she would do with out him she could never imagine. Taking one last breath to calm her ragged senses she straightened her skirt and steadied herself.

"Well, if I'm going to be working here, I might as well do the best that I can right?" Andrew smiled at her attitude.

"Right." He gave her one last reassuring hug.

"Now, you said you had plans for Mr. Shields. Should I perhaps give them to him for you? So that you can get back to more pressing matters Mr. Caldwell?"

Andrew grinned. "Thank you very much Ms. Stanton. But I would prefer to hand the papers to him myself. Besides, I'm sure you will require at least some sort of buffer when my, _kind_ and _understanding_ boss arrives will you not?"

"Ah, but did you not just mention that he was kindand understanding? Why, then he can't be that bad now can he?" Andrew arched a brow.

"Said with such sincerity. My what an actor you are my dearest cousin."

Serena grinned mischievously. "You bet your ass!"

The two laughed and joked for quiet some time neither realizing how quickly time was slipping by. Serena answered the phones here and there, but very little was left for her to do until Darien arrived to instruct her. Before long Serena heard her stomach rumble. Andrew, knowing that noise to be the universal lunch bell, snickered.

"Hungry mademoiselle?"

Gratefully she responded. "Ravenous."

"Well then, I guess seeing as you've been a good assistant all day, I could possibly treat you to some lunch." Serena glared.

"Don't you go babying me. I will accompany you, _good sir_, to lunch, but I will be paying for myself."

He whistled at her. "Modern woman. How charming." She rolled her eyes at him before cleaning up her desk.

"I guess I'll just, what? Leave a note saying I'm going off to lunch? How long of a break do you think I get anyway?" She frowned as she gathered all the papers she needed to leave for Darien in case he decided to grace her with his presence that day.

"You get an hour. And just leave all the notes on his desk. When he sees that you're not at the desk he'll figure it out."

She nodded and took the papers to the door leading to Darien's private office. Once inside the room she carefully cleared a small section of the rather cluttered desk, and placed the notes there with a message of her own on the very top. With that she silently closed the door behind her and grabbed her jacket.

"So, what food do you have in mind?"

"Good ol' fish and chips"

"Sounds great. But no dirty tricks this time!"

He scoffed. "Vinegar1 is NOT a dirty trick. It's customary."

"Not for me. I almost died of shock."

"Almost. But didn't."

She playfully hit him as they strolled down the street towards a nearby pub.

---12:30pm, Office of Mr. Shields---

Darien entered his office and opened the closed blinds letting in a ray of sunlight. A sharp ringing tone was audible through the pocket of his pants. Automatically his eyes fell on the caller ID. Recognizing the number, he flipped open his phone.

"Good afternoon mother."

" Darien darling! How is my favorite son?"

Darien rolled his eyes. Two seconds and already she was trying to butter him up.

"Fine mum, how's dad?"

"Oh you know your father he ought to retire by now but instead he's out working every day. I hope you aren't overworking yourself. It will do you no good work so hard."

"I'm not overworking mum don't worry so much."

"Don't worry you say. I know you're just trying to get me off the phone and back to work. Honestly, you must be ragged. I mean really giving up everything we offered you to work so hard in London. You know the newspapers have been commenting on your health."

"Never read the newspapers mother, they're utter rubbish."

" Darien, can't I convince you to-"

"Mother, must we go through this again? I told you, I am not going to run the family estate. Father is perfectly capable of doing that on his own in his own time. I am happy where I am now. I've worked very hard to get here and I'd like to stay here."

"Are you really happy? I mean you don't even have a steady woman in your life. Really, all of this bed jumping nonsense."

"MOTHER!" Darien didn't even attempt to hide the small blush forming due to his mother's audacious comment. "That is none of your concern."

" Darien dear, you really must begin looking for a suitable woman. Your thirtieth birthday is soon approaching."

"Mother, I really do not have time to discuss this with you right now." He rubbed his eyes. How quickly conversations turned to the worst… "I have a lot of work to do. Can we chat later?"

"You always ask to chat later and it never happens. Darien, I am your mother and I demand to discuss these matters with you. I am getting old, I want to see grand-children before my passing."

"Mother, don't talk like that."

"No really! I am not getting any younger. A mother barely gets to see her children. One working till the crack of dawn, one not even in the bloody country."

"Mother, mother, please, calm down."

"How can I calm down? My own son doesn't care to talk to me. I never see you! Raye has an excuse: she lives in Italy! But you! My own flesh and blood living not an hour away…"

Guilt flooded his face. "Mother, I'm sorry, please, I'll make it up to you."

"Good." Her voice suddenly sounding much more jovial she continued. "Then I'll see you on Saturday around five in the evening. And bring your sister; she needs a good feeding. Have a good day Darien. I love you." With that, the conversation was over. He stared oddly at his phone. Perplexed at how quickly his mother was capable of wrangling him in.

"How in the hell does she do that?" He scratched his head, still at a slight loss. "Remarkable." Sighing he set himself to his work.

He began rummaging through the papers present on his desk before finding a pile of notes on a surprisingly clean corner of the desk. Most likely phone messages and such he picked them up and began analyzing them. The top message read:

_Mr. Shields, here are today's notes. They are in order of most to least important. I have stepped out to lunch and will return within the hour. (current time: 12) _

_Ms. Stanton, temporary assistant. _

Confused he re-read the note. _'Temporary assistant?'_ Where was Sue?

"Oh! Vacation right, right." comprehension dawning on his face. Sue had taken a good couple of weeks of in order to see her daughter graduate university. He'd forgotten she would be gone starting today. "Well this Ms. Stanton seems organized enough."

Almost an hour later Darien was still trudging through various papers strewn across his desk. It was actually quite thankful that Darien was not required to sort through the messages that had come in that morning himself; what with the quantity of messages he had been left. Due to an impromptu meeting with Mr. Worthington he'd had earlier that day, Darien was far further behind in the day's work than he cared to be.

Repeatedly he ran his hands through his hair, trying to make sense of the figures he was looking at. They just did not seem to add up. He felt his concentration breaking slowly. He shook his head to clear his head of the muddled facts running through his head and the voices. Confused he shook with a little more, he could not be hearing voices. Not one to hear phantom sounds, he looked to outside forces. Surely, he could not be going insane.

Thankfully, when he looked out one of the glass panels facing his wing of the building, his sanity was kindly handed back to him on a silver platter. He watched as two blondes stepped into his office wing. The one facing him was, recognizably, Andrew. The blonde woman, he deduced, was his new assistant. His manners kicking into gear, he let himself out of the office to greet her.

A soft tinkle of a laugh reached his ears and he noted thankfully that it was not high-pitched or horse-like. He strolled across the wing where she stood facing the wall talking to Andrew. Darien thought he noticed Andrew give the new assistant a warning look as Darien's form caste a light shadow on the girl. Before he was even able to open his mouth in greeting the girl issued four very strange words, her back still to him.

"We have no choice." Puzzled Darien struggled to comprehend the words. Were they aimed at him? Surely not. She had not even acknowledged his presence. Darien noted that the voice sounded familiar. Horror struck him. It was impossible. The blonde hair. The accent? No. He shook his head. She was a waitress last he saw. After all, there were tons of Americans in London with blonde hair. What were the odds of that _one_ showing up at his office? He clenched his fist, one arm outstretched to turn the girl around and show him that his paranoia was worth nothing at all. At that exact moment Serena turned to face her enemy.

Indignation, anger, confusion, and annoyance. All these emotions and more passed through Darien's face like lighting. _'HER'_

Andrew took the momentary silence to quickly and quietly step outside the wing doors. He was sure some yelling would ensure, and as such he wanted to be able to repel the other workers lest they get a bit suspicious.

Two pairs of eyes clashed loudly: so loud it seemed audible to human ears. Darien's stormy blue eyes clouded over and Serena's clear azure ones reflected equally.

Andrew, standing just outside the doors of the Executive wing was puzzled to say the least. _'No screams, no yells, no insults. Did they kill each other that quickly and quietly?'_ Carefully, he pushed the door open a crack and looked in. Oddly, the two were just _standing_ there. Staring. Still confused, he cautiously walked towards the two. Serena had revealed herself more than five minutes ago. By right, the two should have been arguing their heads off, bickering, claws flying. There should have been hair pulling, profanity screaming, name calling the works. But Andrew could see nothing. That was until he stood next to the two. What he did see was a spectacular sight.

It was as if the fiercest of all silent wars were being fought. How they had gone from civilized dancing to World War Three with their eyes no one could explain. Fire raged between the two, their eyes glowing. The tension in the room was thicker than jello and fear began to grip at Andrew's heart. For behind those pairs of eyes, the apocalypse was forming, slowly but surely.

Andrew looked tentatively between the two. His eyes running from side to side: his mind racing asking himself but one question. "How does one stop an impending storm?"

Suddenly as if a silent pulse had gone through the two they came to a sudden halt and broke apart: Darien storming off to his office and Serena throwing herself unceremoniously into her chair.

Awestruck Andrew was glued to his spot: mouth-hanging open. "What?" He whispered breathlessly.

Tensely Serena began organizing her desk. _'I'll show him.'_

---6:07pm---

Agitated, Lita paced the length of her room.

"I'm going to hurt him. I'm going to fly over there and string him up by his balls."

"Lita, calm down. We all want to make him pay for what he did to Serena. But death threats are not going to solve anything."

"Who said anything about death? Did I? No, no, no I said **pain**…oh ho ho _SO_ much pain he'll be _begging_ me to kill him."

Amy bit her lip in worry. When Lita went on a rampage…boy did she go all out.

"Lita…"

Lita took two deep would-be calming breaths. She closed her eyes and counted back from 10. With a completely different attitude, one of hurt more than anger, she began speaking again. "How could he? He's hurt Serena so much already." A look of pain crossed Lita's face.

"I know Lita. I know. But it's true."

"He's _honestly _saying that Serena ran off to England and left _him_ heartbroken? That she's the one who cheated on _him_?"

"Looks like it…" Amy was disheartened. So many horrible things had happened to her friend. So many things that eventually drove her to leave the country.

"She doesn't deserve this." A small-disheartened cry passed Lita's lips. She felt all the pain of her dear friend. All the pain this news would cause if it got to her ears. "That bastard cheating on her then breaking her already fragile heart. Then LYING about it! God I can't believe it! Well, I can, but still! Slandering Serena's name? Telling everyone that she left to run off with someone else? Lying to _everyone_ just to get what he wants. What a dirt bag!" I'm going to KILL him. I'm going to kill him, resurrect him, and kill him again! Yes that's exactly what I'm going to do" the anger returning to her voice. "She left America to get away from it _all_. And now he- he's using it. Using it to make her look bad! Turning it against her? Turning people at school against her? _How_ did we let this scumbag get close to her in the first place? Let alone propose and break her heart? How?"

"We were blind sighted. All of us."

"God, I just don't get why she keeps letting herself get hurt like that. You'd think she'd have learnt by now!"

"Don't say that Lita. We can't blame her for the way she's been treated in the past. If anything, we should commend her. She has a big heart. She cares about people. It's not her fault those people take her trust and love and take advantage of it."

"I just wish we could have protected her…this time _at least_ we should have been able to protect her."

"I know. That's why I called you: first. To see if she was still keeping in contact with anyone from here?"

"No, she doesn't want anything to do with anyone back at home. Not unless they were loyal to her and only her. Besides, she's been busy lately: drowning herself in work. She joined a temp agency you know? So she'd always have something new to do. She'd be too busy to even give checking her old school email any thought. God, can you imagine how…how…how ugh she'll be when she hears this?"

Amy slid down the length of the wall in her apartment until she hit the floor: receiver pressed to her ear. On the other end Lita flopped into a chair, hands fiddling with the edge of the armrest.

"Well then…then maybe she won't ever have to know. I mean Damien can say all he wants about her. But, she doesn't have to hear any of it does she? I mean, we can handle this ourselves. Greg can help keep it quiet over here."

Lita thought for a moment. Ignorance was bliss after all. "If she never finds out then we will _have_ been able to prevent the heartache this time…we'll be able to fulfill our best-friend duties if we protect her from this."

"Exactly."

Thousands of miles away from one another, the two friends sat in silence. Both thinking the same thing: _'No one's going to hurt her again!' _

" Ames, I think I hear Serena coming home. Do you want to stay on the line and say hi?"

Amy sniffed; obviously she'd taken the moments of silence to wallow a bit. "No, I think it's better if I call her later."

Lita nodded. "Alright, I'll talk to you soon. Thanks for the heads up." With that, she pressed the 'off' button on the cordless phone and let her head droop.

There was the sound of a key clicking in a lock before the sound of a ground-shaking slamming of the front door. Concerned, Lita jumped up to meet her red-faced, obviously extremely pissed off friend.

"Serena. Is everything alright?" Lita more than a little apprehensive, attempted to pat Serena on the back. Serena coldly shrugged Lita's hand off her shoulder. "Everything is _fine_ just god damned perfectly FINE!"

Lita looked at Serena with concern. "Serena hon, come sit, talk to me. What happened?" Serena, still fuming mad, sat down on the couch with Lita. Squeezing the life out of a pillow, she began to recount what had turned into the worst first day ever.

---6:25pm---

Darien stormed into his house in a whirlwind of emotions. He recalled the look on Andrew's face as he stormed into Darien's office: yelling, cursing, and saying things Darien had not known the blonde to be able to say. Annoyed by Andrew's reprimand and the way his own insides were screaming he doubled the force made by the pounding of his heavy feet. Muttering under his breath he took the stairs two at a time to get to his room. Halfway up the stairs, he passed Raye on the landing.

" Darien is everything-"

"I'm fine." He barked. Relaxing a bit under his sister's glare he stopped to relay some information. "I'm just tired is all. I'm heading to bed. And we're having dinner with Mum and Dad on Saturday." With that he continued the swift trek up to his room.

Once in the confines of his room he let out a deep angry yell. Tugging at his tie and then ripping his coat off his back he threw the two forcefully against a chair in the corner. Frustrated he sat down on his bed and kicked his shoes off. Memories clouded his mind. Annoyed, he decided on a shower to help wash away the memories of that day.

---

If he thought the shower would help him forget the incident he was wrong beyond all belief. Sure the shower had helped clear his mind of things but it was not how he had wanted it. The warm water washed everything _but _the image of her from his mind.

He closed his eyes and flopped onto bed. The air-drying his back as he lay there recounting the afternoon's events.

_Hours went by with little to no contact between employer and employee. Andrew tried in vain to convince Serena to let him stay the rest of the day to buffer any possible arguments the two might have. But Serena had unceremoniously ushered him out muttering something about being able to handle herself and not wanting him to be distracted from his work. Thankfully, Andrew had not complied at all. Instead he'd stood guard outside of the wing doors through out the rest of the day. _

_Nearing the end of the day the thing that was well anticipated all day reached Andrew's ears: an argument. His internal self yelled. INTERFERE INTERFERE! But he knew that the two would eventually need to work through their problems. Besides, words were only words…right? _

_The two stood facing one another from opposite ends of the room: spit flying from their mouths, fire shooting from their eyes. In the months, years to come neither would be able to remember who had started the row. But at the moment all that mattered to one another was taking the other down. _

_"Why are you here anyway? I thought you were a waitress. And a receptionist before that." _

_"Restaurant personnel. And I was a receptionist for only three days." _

_"So you got fired from that job. Let me add to your count and fire you from here as well!" _

_"For you **information** I was not **fired**. I work for a "temp agency" where they **assign** people jobs for short periods of time." _

_"Fine, then go get yourself another temporary job and find me another more competent assistant." _

_"Don't you think I tried? You think I **want** to be working for the likes of you?" _

_"Who wouldn't?" A smug look complemented by a charming smile was presented to Serena. _

_She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't flatter yourself Shields. God know if you inflate that ego anymore people are going to start mistaking you for a blimp." _

_"Why don't you just quit? And neither of us will have to ever see each other again." _

_"Sorry, but not **all **of us have the luxury of not working. I, no matter how much I care to kill you, must work to feed myself. So I will be here for the next couple of weeks and you better learn to deal with it." _

_"Are you threatening me? Do you really think that I am afraid of your threats?" _

_"I don't care if you're afraid of the boogieman. Just leave me alone and let me do my damned JOB!" _

_"I **AM** YOUR JOB!" _

_Serena, barely gave herself a moment to blush at the phrasing of his statement before taking a deep breath to yell back. "YOU ARE MY **BOSS** YOU ASS! **NOT** MY JOB! AND YOU REMEMBER THAT! I DON'T CARE HOW MUCH OF A MAN WHORE YOU ARE. WHILE I AM WORKING HERE YOU WILL TREAT ME PROPERLY!" _

_"WHAT YOU THINK I'D WANT TO SHAG YOU? YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY YOUR PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OVER THAT. BUT TREAT YOU **PROPERLY?** LIKE AN EMPLOYEE I HIRED WILLINGLY IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? WELL TOUGH. GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEAD." With every word he spoke he brought himself closer to her, forcing the two of them dangerously close. When he was mere inches from her he spoke the words clear and straightforward. "**I-Don't-Want-You-Here!**" _

_The moment the words escaped his lips he realized the severity of them. He was suddenly thrown off by the brief hurt in her eyes replaced speedily by coldness: utterly stoic she stood there the fire in her eyes turned to ice. He recoiled slightly at the look she gave him. It felt, to him, as if the room had dropped in temperature. _

_Andrew heard the words. Heard the words Darien had spoken and waited. Andrew waited for Serena to rebuttal: to yell, scream, accuse, anything. He prayed she hadn't taken the words to heart. But only silence pressed in on his ears: deafening silence. Hanging his head Andrew cursed; he knew what those words would mean to Serena, even if Darien did not. _

_She walked to her desk. Not saying a word she packed her things with controlled calm. Her eyes: blank. She made her way directly to the wing doors, her body acting on its own, her mind elsewhere. _

_With her hand on the door she turned back to him. The look pierced through Darien like a dagger to his heart. For a moment, her bright blue eyes were nothing but dull grey orbs. Quietly, with all her heart, she barely whispered three words. "I hate you." Words which should have been shouted were so soft that they hit his ears with the force of a sledgehammer. Shocked to say the least he had no choice but to stand in the middle of the wing, gaping as the door closed behind her. _

_Andrew quickly grabbed a hold of his cousin's arm ready to console her. Expecting tears to be falling from her eyes, he was surprised to find nothing but anger. She continued down the hallway, ignoring Andrew's condolences. _

Night had long ago invaded the room but Darien lay awake in his bed. _" 'I hate you!' " _He flopped over and buried his head into his pillow: the soft cotton muffling the sounds of his aggravated screams. Her voice rang through his head as if she were lying right beside him: tormenting him and robbing him of sleep. He flopped back onto his back. He stared up at the canopy he knew to be above him. All was dark in his room, pitch black. The darkness encompassed everything, even the hands that rubbed his tired eyes. Despite the blindness caused by the lack of light, two blue eyes glared bright in front of his vision.

Two large blue orbs, blank of all emotion. The image played back in his head like a damned broken record. He watched as her eyes went from never-ending expression, a beauty in its own, to utterly expressionless. He growled once again. Why did he care he asked himself? What did it matter if she said she hated him? What did it matter if he was the one that had taken all the life out of her? Why did he give a damn about that woman? After all he couldn't stand her either. What was that feeling he got when he thought of the pain in her eyes? Surely, his words could not have caused all the pain he saw flash through her eyes. Surely he didn't care if he had. Surely?

_'Bloody hell I'm Darien Shields! Who cares about whether one blasted woman hates me? She's just another woman Darien, get a grip.' _

_ 'Oh but she's just not _any_ woman you know…' _ Darien's inner voice woke up.

_'Oh bugger off won't you?' _

_ 'Can't I'm part of you, you dumb fool.' _

_ 'If you are part of me then listen to my command.' _

_ 'I may be part of you but I am not your subservient. Stupid prat.' _

_ 'Why is it that my own insides is calling me a prat?!' _

_ 'Because you killed her you dolt. Didn't you see it? If you didn't you surely are stupider than I thought.' _

_ 'Excuse me? I did not kill her.' _

_ 'Yes you most certainly did kill her. Part of her at least.' _

He sighed, his imagination was getting so out of hand he didn't even know what it was saying.

'_I'm not your imagination idiot. I'm your heart.' _

_ 'Sorry, don't have one of those. You must be mistaken. You're probably really my-' _

_ 'Don't finish that thought it is just plain dirty.' _

Darien rolled his eyes. His insides were arguing with him. Why did that always happen when _she_ was involved?

_'Because for some unknown reason, you care for her.' _

_ 'Would you shut up already? I do NOT care for her. If anything I..I' _

_ 'Care for her?' _

_ 'Now _you_ most _certainly_ are the prat here!' _

_ 'If you don't care for her, why do you keep thinking about the things you said then?' _

_ 'Because…' _

_ 'Exactly.'_

_'No! It is because I have to work with her. And I'd rather not go through that _every _day from now on! I don't care for women.' _

_ 'You told her you didn't want her around. How do you know she will even show up at work tomorrow?' _

He groaned. ´_I didn't mean it!' _

_ 'She certainly didn't seem to think that now did she? Shall we replay that last bit once again?' _

_ 'No! I don't care what she thought. And I didn't mean it alright!' _

_ 'If you don't care what she thinks, then why haven't you been able to stop thinking about her for the past five hours?' _

Annoyed he scrunched his eyes up. _'Bugger off will you?' _

Silence on the Darien front: thankfully he rolled to his side. _'Stupid prat.' _

He sighed once more. His heart talking about a girl? No. This was all from lack of sleep he reasoned. It had been hours since he'd laid himself down, replaying the spat until he knew every movement of her arm, every frown, every gesture by heart. Feeling more and more miserable as the memory crept up once more he smacked his head. Why had he said that? Why had it made her change so drastically? Yes, he had finally admitted, that he had changed something in her. Did he care? Surprisingly, he did. He didn't know why and was not about to let his 'heart' give him the answer. But for some reason, he grudgingly admitted, it bothered him that he had hurt her.

Surprisingly quickly after that admission Darien found himself fast asleep. He awoke the next morning, relieved that a blue eyed someone had not crept into his dreams, though he could not recall having any. While the memory of the previous days fight was still fresh in his mind the internal argument he'd had was but a memory at the edge of a cliff. By the time he'd arrived at work that edge had broken off and with it, the memory, forgotten.

---Serena's apartment 10am---

Serena woke with a start. Loud, sharp knocks made her insides jump with frustration. Incomprehensible voices could be heard from beyond the locked door. She groaned and covered her head with a pillow. The noise was incessant, muffled cries filtered towards her ears. Aggravated she threw her pillow against the door: moaning in anger. It hit with a soft thump, nothing that could put up to the fists on the other side of the door unfortunately. Immediately she regretted the loss of her precious pillow. Not only was she left to lie on nothing but her forearms, but also the yelling had grown uncomfortably louder.

Grudgingly she drew herself up into a sitting position. "Alright already quit with the yelling! I'm coming. Shut up!" She squinted at the light. Her eyes sore from unshed tears she'd rubbed away the night before, her mind raw from the previous day's events. Slowly, she trudged over to her door and unlocked it, doing a quick about face and heading right back to her bed the moment the lock clicked. She let gravity carry her body face down into the cool sheets: her cousin and friend following close behind her zombie-like form.

Lita rubbed her back in a motherly fashion. "Honey, you have to get up and go to work now it's very late."

"Mot goging." The words came out muffled by the newly re-instated pillow.

"Honey, you can't just not go to work."

"ye ay cam."

"No Sere, you can't. Or you're going to get fired from the agency."

Serena sighed and rotated on to her back. "I don't care. Let them fire me. I'm not going back there. Not with _him_ there. Besides, he said he didn't want me there so it looks like I'm fired anyway."

"Serena, He didn't mean what he said. You have to understand that Darien is used to getting things done his way. He's used to having everything in life controlled: used to people throwing themselves at him, especially women. It's the way things have just always been for him."

"Well I'm not about to throw myself at him."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to throw yourself into your work." Andrew looked intently at her knowing that the notion of being a hard worker would eventually take over.

"Well if he's so controlled, why doesn't he control himself? Why does he treat me like I'm junk? I know it's not because I'm American that's a ridiculous reason to pick on a person. Besides you're American and British and he's fine with you"

"Well he had better be alright with me." Andrew sighed. Darien was getting to Serena more than she cared to admit to herself. "Like I said, he's just not used to women not throwing themselves at him. In fact, I think you should go to work just to _not _throw yourself at him even more." He gave a wry smile hoping to lift her spirits.

"Yeah! Andrew is right!" An oddly triumphant look struck Lita. "If he's going to make it hard for you to work because he just doesn't like you then hit him where it hurts!"

"I've tried, his ego just won't deflate itself. In fact he seems to fuel it simply by breathing."

"No no, Andrew said it himself; Darien's used to girls fawning over him. So use that inborn comfort against him! Go to work and make him suffer like he's making you."

Andrew looked apprehensively at Lita. That was certainly not the course of action they had planned on before entering Serena's room. Sure he wanted his cousin to be happy, but not necessarily at the expense of his best friend.

Shocked Serena sat bolt upright in her bed. "Lita, I am NOT about to go and use…use…myself. Besides, I don't know…no forget it I'm not even considering that. It's ludicrous Lita. I won't have it. Look guys please. Just leave me alone!"

With that she threw herself back down onto the bed, simultaneously grabbing a corner of the blanket to go over her head like a cocoon. Momentarily giving up, Lita and Andrew exited the cozy bedroom. Andrew scrounged his face up in annoyance. Dragging Lita to the opposite side of the apartment they began discussing their blonde haired friend.

Lita paced back and forth, something she found she'd been accustomed to do while dealing with Serena. "She's not normally like this you know. I just don't get it. What is he doing to her?" Andrew shook his head at a loss for words and plunked down into the sofa.

"We have to get her to work."

"She doesn't want to go Andrew. Why does it matter so much to you that she does? Why don't we just let her off for today? We can try again tomorrow." The conversation between the two mimicked that of parents discussing their child's well being.

"She has to face him. We can't let him just push her over like that. Besides, I talked to Darien this morning. He's expecting her to be there. For some reason, the affect he's having on her, she's having on him. He's demanding that she show up. And he's not taking no for an answer."

"Why does he CARE? Why can't he just leave her alone?" She collapsed next to Andrew: head hanging low.

"I think…I think he wants to apologize."

Lita eyed him suspiciously. "Apologize? I thought you said that Darien didn't look back? Ugh, I'm starting to _dislike_ this friend of yours."

Andrew nodded. "I don't know. He just sounded…different, like he wanted her to come in for more than her job. And, I don't know. I still want them to at least be civil towards one another. After all, they're bound to cross paths as long as she's my cousin and he's my best friend."

Lita sighed. Exasperated she spoke "well then, we'll have to get her to work, won't we?"

He smiled; glad she understood what little he could explain. In all honesty he couldn't exactly pinpoint _why_ he was fighting so hard to get the two together in one room. But something inside said it had to happen.

"But Andrew," she started apprehensively "she's not about to go to work willingly."

"Then she'll go unwillingly. Those two are going to have to face their demons sooner or later."

Lita nodded. Serena was going to have to stand up for herself one day or another. What better day than today?

10 minutes later Andrew, left the apartment building with a fuming Serena, still clad in her nightwear, slung over his shoulder; Lita in tow with a bag of amenities for Serena. "I am not going! You can't make me!" She screamed. He put Serena into the back seat of the awaiting limo with a small thud. Indignant she tried to exit but was abruptly stopped by the contact of the roof against her head. Falling back into a leather seat, she rubbed her head. At that moment Lita joined her in the back seat and with a jerk the limo pulled into traffic. Serena stabilized herself and managed to stay upright while Lita tossed the bag of amenities at Serena.

"What is this?" Serena still rubbing her head eyed the bag carefully. They were kidnapping her. The bag was sure to contain more torture materials. Chains? Whips?

"Clothes Sere, you can't very well go to work dressed like that." Serena looked down at herself: from her bare feet, to her 'Pooh' shorts and tie dye shirt. Peeved, she turned away from Lita.

"So what? Couldn't convince me, had to force me? Well there's _nothing_ you can say that will make me go into that building. I refuse to sit and smile at him while he mocks me!"

---

She stomped up to the elevator and jammed at the button labeled 4. Andrew eyed her warily. Serena muttered under her breath, the words forced out through gritted teeth. "No food. Giving up _precious_ time at the damned restaurant cooking for me is she? Threaten no food. I'll give her no food." Andrew smiled despite himself. Lita sure knew his little cousin well.

The moment the cool metal doors opened Serena froze. Straightening her back and raising her head she walked coolly to the end of the hall. Stopping just before her hand could turn the handle she took a deep breath. A reassuring squeeze of her shoulders from Andrew triggered her hand to turn the knob. Stepping into the crisp office she refused to let her eyes wander over to Darien's office. Instead she headed directly to her desk and placed her things down. She took only partial notice to Andrew's proclamation of being late for his meeting before heading over towards Darien's office.

Seating herself down at the desk she began looking for things to do. Finding no papers to file, no notes to take, no nothing she began to do the only thing she could think of: sharpening pencils. She took one of the yellow sticks of wood and jammed it aggressively into the sharpener. Muttering to herself the whole way through.

Slowly she acknowledged the growing voices coming from Darien's office, unknowingly her head turned squarely to the door, the moment the door opened her eyes caught on the insufferable Darien. Unfortunately she couldn't deny the fact that the man was …very attractive. But, she scoffed, it did nothing for his personally and it did nothing to explain the hoards of people willing to kill themselves to be near him.

Suddenly realizing she'd been staring at Darien she quickly snapped back to the pencil she had forgotten she'd been sharpening. Looking at the small stub of a stick sadly she placed it next to the other three dozen she'd sharpened while unconsciously waiting for Darien to exit. _'So what if he has a nice face, and well kept hair. He's still a jerk. So he takes care of himself. A good body and good face aren't everything…besides I hate him…'_

Drawn out of her revere by the feeling of being stared at, she looked up a little dazed. Slightly shocked she almost threw herself back. Staring at her, his face only inches away from hers was Darien. He was leaning over her desk, head rested lightly on the palm of his hand. Quickly she looked frantically around for Andrew, or the guy that had emerged from Darien's office only moments ago, anyone that would help get Darien away from her.

Shoving herself away from the desk she stood up: a frown plastered to her face. He looked at her with an almost amused smile.

"Glad to see you finally decided to join me today."

At a loss for words she just stared at him. _'Join?'_ She had been thrown off by his sudden change of attitude. Why was he acting like this? What was he acting like? She asked herself. Nice? _'No way! That'd be impossible…_' He was most surely up to something. Some plot to throw her off her guard and then attack like an opposing force in battle.

She cleared her throat; uncomfortable with the way he was eyeing her. She walked over to the coffee table and poured herself a cup of tea. Feeling his eyes burn into her back she took one sip of the hot liquid before turning around to face her _boss_.

She was struck solid by his eyes. Those eyes that so often mocked her were different from the ones she normally glanced into. But quickly the cold eyes were re-instated. Passing off the look as a figment of her imagination she scoffed and walked back to her desk.

"Quit staring at me will you?"

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" She glared at him. Not wanting him to know how much it was getting to him she forced her voice to sound icy.

"No, it just is not polite to stare."

He chuckled. "Very well. If that is what you want." She gaped at him. Had he just appeased her?

"What is wrong with you? Why are you acting like the Body Snatchers have gotten a hold of you?" She was baffled. This was _not_ the Darien she knew.

He smiled at her knowingly. He was confusing her, and he much liked the way she screwed her face up when she was confused. Quietly he leaned closer to her. She was too stunned at his sudden actions to move. His face was soon close enough for her to see each individual mole on his face. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

The sincerity in the words never reached her ears. Instead she saw, in her mind's eye, his mocking face. "I knew it!" She growled. "Trying to pretend to be nice to me. You're sorry. That's a laugh." She was standing, fury on her face. How dare he take yesterday's events and use them against her? How DARE he?"

Shocked at her obvious refusal of his apology Darien stood up straight as a stick. "I'm trying to tell you I'm sorry." The tone of his voice rising as anger built up once again. She didn't believe him?

"Oh SURE you are. God, how low can you get?" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Low? YOU DAFT WOMAN! I'm _apologizing_ to you."

"What is this your new trick? Make fun of me, yell at me in public and then pretend to say sorry? Because as I recall you've said it before and it didn't mean anything! So save your fake apologizes. I don't need them."

Fuming he struggled to find the right words. But only one came to his mind. "FINE!"

"FINE!" she screamed back. In the back of her mind she wondered how they always ended up like this, screaming at one another.

He shook with anger. "**FINE!**"

She narrowed her eyes. He was continuing. Well two could play at that game. "**_FINE!_**"

Suddenly a crazed Andrew ran into the room, throwing the doors open in his path. "NOT FINE! YOU TWO ARE RIDICULOUS! SHUT UP ALREADY!" He ran up to the two "adults."

"You!" He looked directly at Serena. "Sit down!" He pointed sternly to the chair behind her.

"And you!" He glared at Darien. "Sit down as well." He pointed to a chair beside Serena and Darien complied.

"I have had it up to HERE!" He placed his hand next to his ear to help demonstrate how frustrated he was "with the two of you! YOU ARE ACTING LIKE **BABIES!** Now both of you are going to listen to me and listen well! You will be working together for the next two weeks _if not more!_ And since that is something neither of you can avoid you will behave yourselves and treat on another properly!" His face was red with rage: his spit lingering in the air.

"Now the two of you will get along or so help me god I will hurt the both of you regardless of my position." He took a moment to recapture his breath and his composure. Serena cowered at her cousin; she remembered only one other incident in which he had ever been this angry. Darien was nothing less than shocked to see his friend reprimanding him for the second time in two days.

"The two of you are going to agree to a truce." Serena and Darien both looked like they were about to protest, but one swift look from Andrew stopped the two mid thought.

"The two of you will agree to be civil towards each other for the duration of your working together. Serena, you will stop arguing with Darien, and Darien, you are going to treat her like every other assistant to ever come through here. That _includes_ treating her to a welcome dinner."

At this the two sputtered. Dinner? Working together in a civil manner was one thing. Lasting a dinner together? That was another. They looked at one another, animosity still present.

"UNDERSTOOD?" Andrew's voice boomed over their apprehensions.

Reluctantly the two briefly looked at one another before nodding in agreement. Knowing that by agreeing to this truce, they were not only agreeing to act "friendly" to one another, but were agreeing to a dreaded dinner.

"Good, now stand up and shake on it." Serena rolled her eyes. Boy was her cousin demanding.

Standing, the two glared at one another tentatively. Both held fight in their eyes; a spirit neither would yield. Slowly but surely the two extended hands and the briefest of brief handshakes was exchanged; so brief in fact it could easily have been mistaken for a slap. Nonetheless, the two agreed.

"Truce." The man growled out.

"Truce." The blonde responded.

With that done the blonde brusquely walked away, intent on putting as much distance between them for the time being. Darien's eyes followed her retreating form with interest. _'This is going to be an interesting couple of weeks.'_

Thus began the weirdest of all relationships.

* * *

1. Many people enjoy vinegar with their fish and chips in the UK. (sort of like how American's use ketchup)  
2. Biscuits-British term for cookies. 

Well there you go! Chapter 4! With no real cliffie this time. I really hope you guys enjoy this one. I certainly enjoyed writing it. Unfortunately I start work on Thursday, so writing will have to slow down a bit however…I hope to get one more chapter out before I go off to college because I don't want to leave you guys hanging with out at least some of this story before school gets crazy.

After this chapter things are going to be picking up romantically.

To read more English to English press review. For best results email the author personally as well. wink The WISEr the reviews the better!

**NEXT TIME**: The _dreaded_ dinner. Flying sparks? A surprising revelation and interesting turns of events. Stay tuned for chapter 5 of English to English!

_©2007 Jing2 _


	8. Not like I care

_Edited, reposted Nov. 2007_**  
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* * *

**Chapter 5:**** Not like I care**

Raye's light voice tinkled sweetly in the afternoon air. She clasped the receiver of the black phone to her ear, while comfortably reclined in a plush upholstered chair in her room. Smiling she spoke to the man on the other end of the line, obviously happy to hear his voice. "Yes, I'll be here for a little while longer." She paused and listened to his reply. "I really don't know how much longer. I told you, mum wanted me to come over and convince Darien to take over the family estate. But you know him; he's hated the idea of being a Lord since he was old enough to say the word. Besides, I haven't had a chance to slip it into conversation. That stupid bugger is always working so bloody hard. But the two of us are heading over to the house on Saturday. Hopefully dad and mum can knock some sense into his thick head."

A deep laugh came from the other end of the receiver. Despite her current annoyance with her brother, she smiled. He always had that effect on her.

"Raye" His deep voice drawled, "you have one hell of a hard task set for you."

She rolled her eyes. Had she not just said that? "Perhaps Darien needs a reminder of the-how you say…, perks he enjoyed as a lord."

She sighed; a similar thought had crossed her mind only days ago. But that had been before her arrived at the mansion Darien called home. "He has pretty much everything he could ever want here. Everything the manor can offer him was shipped over here. I mean, even ELDON was sent over here to make Darien feel 'at home in the big bad city.' Honestly, they've shipped everything but the gardens over here for crying out loud! Besides, I don't think it would help even if they hadn't given him all the luxuries of home. I've told you before. The first time any news about him went public, the family was shocked. 'Darien Shields: A rags to riches story.' Honestly," she shook her head. "I mean, he went as far as to cut himself off from the entire family when he went to university, so he could, in a half-hearted manner, have that article printed; didn't want people to think he had got where he is today because of daddy. But…" she trailed off at the thought. He knew the story, she knew the story, and it was old news by now.

She let her head fall back against the lavishly upholstered chair. How was she going to convince the most bull-headed person in the world to do something he refused to admit was his duty? "Damn Seiya, this is entirely his fault. What right did he have to run away… that jerk." Chad made soft soothing sounds over the phone, wishing he could have been there in person to calm his aggravated girlfriend."I'm sorry for rattling on like this. It's just very frustrating you know?"

"Of course kitten. You know I'm always here for you."

She smiled for the umpteenth time. How had she gotten so lucky as to find him, she wondered?

----

Serena groaned and rolled over in bed. Rain pelted the windows rhythmically and she yawned and stretched in her bed. Turning on her side to look at the clock, she allowed her mind to wander. It had been three days since the truce and things between Darien and herself had been nothing less than curt.

'_At least it's Friday. After today, I'll have two wonderful jerk-free days ahead of me.'_ Grudgingly, she drew herself out of bed and began rummaging through her closet for clothes to wear.

----

She walked slowly towards the ominous doors. Reluctantly, she forced them open and made her way towards the desk setting her bags on the floor. Automatically, her hand reached for the phone to check for messages. Carefully she took notes and checked her desk for files and papers to sort.

At eleven-thirty, the clock on the far wall chimed. The noise brought Serena out of her paperwork. Stretching her legs, she got up to grab a cup of water sneaking a glance at the polished solid oak door to her right where Darien and his associates sat in a meeting. She didn't know what they were talking about, but whatever it was, it was taking them a long time.

----

At one-thirty, Serena returned from lunch to find her boss still locked up in his office. She flopped back into her chair and stared at her empty desk. If he didn't come out soon, she was going to leave early. After all, what was the point of staying at work with nothing to do?She listened carefully to see if he was still in a meeting. No sound, she assumed they'd left during her break. _'Guess today is my lucky day. Little work, and I don't have to see him.'_

Twenty minutes later, the phone rang, forcing Serena out of her captivating game of "watch the lint fall."

"Red Rose Enterprises, Office of Darien Shields, Serena speaking, how may I help you?"

"Wow, what a long ass greeting. How do you do it?"

Serena rolled her eyes and suppressed a grin. "Cause, Lita, I know how to kiss butt and do it with a smile."

"Oh, I kiss butt…it's just not metaphorical."

Serena let out a bark. "So to what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Can't a girl call her _bestest_best friend with no other motives?"

Serena laughed. "Absolutely not, what do you want?" Serena crossed her legs and reclined back in her chair.

"All right, all right, I was wondering if I could borrow your red dress for tonight."

"Ooh, does Lita have a hot date?"

Lita smiled on her end. "Hopefully…."

"Sure, no problem, see Lita, you don't have to be so sneaky."

"Uh…"

Serena rolled her eyes. "All right, what else do you want?"

"Think I could also have that black blazer of yours and the matching ruby necklaces and earrings?"

A deep sigh escaped Serena's lips. "You owe me."

Lita squealed. "A dozen chocolate chip muffins it is then! Thanks so much Sere, see you later!"

Serena grinned _'Lita borrows a dress; I get muffins, sounds like an even trade to me!' _

With that settled, Serena turned back to the daunting task of organizing her paper clips.

----

By three o'clock in the afternoon, Serena had organized her paper clips, her post-its, the paper in the drawer, her pencils by size and diameter and successfully put a shredded masterpiece back together. She admired her handiwork: a patched up, taped up heart. However, the novelty quickly wore off and she resumed her state of boredom.

'_You'd think that a company this big would have something for me to DO!' _She sighed for the thousandth time that day. What was he doing in that office she wondered? _'Not like I miss him or anything. I just wish he'd get his stupid British butt out here and give me something to do!'_

----Inside our illustrious CEO's office----

Darien paced around his office; occasionally tossing a tennis ball up into the air. He had found himself, at two o'clock, waking up from a rather unexpected nap. The result of this impromptu stint in "la-la land" was a lovely drool stain on his newspaper and, spectacularly, the words "Bozo the clown escapes!" artfully plastered to the side of his face…backwards.

Rubbing at the stain Darien forced himself to concentrate. There was work to be done. He knew this. Yet he could not help himself from dreading the moment he would have to step out the door and confront his secretary.

It had been almost a week since their encounter. During that time, they had been manageably civil towards one another. However, as Andrew had "kindly" reminded him (though most people would consider a bruise-inducing punch a less-than-kind reminder) it was about due time he take Serena out for her "welcome" dinner.

Darien naturally, had opposed this notion. He had argued that she was merely a temporary assistant and as such, was not entitled to the "welcome" dinner. Andrew however, skilfully countered with a proposal Darien could not refuse. "'Do it, or the Austin Martin gets the key.'"

Naturally, for the safety and well-being of his favourite, most beloved car, he agreed.

He had spent the last couple of hours avoiding Serena at all costs. He considered himself lucky when Andrew and the head of the Legal staff had left the meeting, Serena had taken it upon herself to take a lunch break. It wasn't that he was nervous or scared that she'd refuse him dinner. He shook his head; this was not the reason. It was simply that he dreaded having to spend a whole night with her. With a reassuring nod, he convinced himself he was right. Yes, of course, that was what it was. After all, he was Darien Shields…, womanizer extraordinaire! One dinner with one woman was nothing too worry about. He'd had worse after all.

He looked at his watch, four-thirty. He scoffed. A good half day wasted on that woman and, dare he say it, his _emotions. _The thought made him shudder. Squaring his shoulders and straightening his tie, he resolved to stop acting like an emotional adolescent within the confines of his office.

He placed a steady hand on the door and … stopped. He had an INTERCOM! Ha-ha! He could avoid seeing her for a few moments longer! With that, he sat himself down in his luxuriant chair and buzzed Serena.

"Ms. Stanton, may I have a word with you in my office?"

"Coming…."

Serena slumped in her chair before lifting herself reluctantly from her seat. Sluggishly she poured herself into his office. "Yes?" She leaned casually against the doorframe instead of seating herself opposite Darien.

"Please sit."

"I would prefer to stand. I have been sitting doing nothing all day as it is."

"Yes, well I would prefer you to sit whilst we discuss matters at hand."

Rolling her eyes, she decided that this was not worth fighting over. Grudgingly, she sat down. "So, what do you need to talk about? If you're going to give me work now, I'm not taking it. I'm a regular employee and as such, I'm leaving in less than a half hour's time. Five o'clock I'm out of here."

"You needn't worry, Ms. Stanton, I whole heartedly agree." She raised her eyebrow and motioned for him to continue.

"Would you like a drink: coffee, tea, pop?" She raised her eyebrows even further if that was possible. Another kind gesture like that and her eyebrow was sure to merge with her hairline.

"No…" she spoke tentatively, trying to deduce where this was going, "I'm fine."

"Very well, now, I called you in to discuss the matter of your welcome dinner."

"Oh, well you really don't have to bother." Mentally she corrected herself- he'd really better not.

"Yes well, it is tradition," mentally he added '_and your cousin forced me.'_

"Look, I know you probably don't want to spend a whole dinner time with me alone and I _certainly_ don't want to spend a dinner with you, so why don't we just say we went and leave it at that?"

Something in the way she'd said those words cut him. She "_certainly" _didn't want to eat with him. Nobody refused him…, not her, not anyone! Frowning, he rose to his full height. "We're heading out to dinner tomorrow at_Aurora_; I will see you at six-thirty in the evening." Angered, he motioned for her to leave. "Oh, and don't be late."

With that, she was forced to watch as he stormed out of his own office.

A moment later, it hit her. The nerve of that man commanding her to share a meal with him as if she was his servant -- well she resolved she was just going to have to make an effort to forget the information he had told her.

Taking Darien's storming off as a sign that she herself would be able to leave early, she packed her things and walked out into the humid summer air. The rain had stopped and left the ground a damp dark colour. She walked the three minutes it took to the nearest tube station and shoved her way towards the turnstiles. She jammed her hand into her purse looking for her wallet and oyster card 2. One jolt from a rushing commuter and the contents of Serena's purse were half dumped onto the floor. Cursing her luck, she bent down to pick everything up. Her hand stopped momentarily on a small white card with the words "_Pick you up at 6:30 – be ready_" written on it.

"This better not be what I think it is…" Turning over the card, she read – _Aurora _– "damn that jerk!" Frustrated, she balled the offending card in her hands and left it in the nearest litterbin.

----6pm Saturday Night-Flat 3 of Lita and Serena----

Serena sat on the sofa in a pair of grey sweatpants and an old T-shirt, arms crossed over her chest, hair in disarray. She had returned the night before, grumpy from the day's events. Initially, Lita had been sympathetic to Serena, but after three hours of a foul mood and bad attitude, Lita had changed her stance. Serena would go to the dinner regardless of her feelings towards her boss and she had no choice about it anymore. As a result, they had been arguing for nearly two hours.

Lita stood firmly, towering over the pouting Serena. Lita tapped her foot impatiently. "Look Serena, it's almost six o'clock. Darien is going to be here and you are in no way _nearly_ ready. Do you _want _things to start off on the wrong foot?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't care to start things on any foot wrong or otherwise."

"Serena Anne Stanton, if you don't go on this business dinner, you are going to get fired. If Darien fires you then you are guaranteed to be fired from your temp job and if you're fired from your temp job, you are going to have to crawl back to the states for money and if you crawl back to the states for money, bad things will happen. Do you REALLY want all of that to happen?

Serena glared. She cursed Lita's twisted logic; and similarly she cursed herself for letting her friend attain so much useful information. Angry, annoyed and grumpy she stormed off to her room and slammed the door forcefully behind her. Once inside, she let out one bellowing scream, followed promptly by several pillows aimed directly at the wall opposite.

Still mumbling under her breath irately, she began rummaging through her closet for something to wear, tossing one thing after another in a hap hazardless fashion over her head.

Half an hour later, Serena was miraculously, ready. Carefully, she checked her make-up once more in the mirror by the door and shook out her hair before putting it up in a simple ponytail. The intercom buzzed loudly signifying the arrival of her "date." She looked at her watch, six-thirty-one.

She gave Lita a surprised look, punctual…very punctual. Grabbing her purse, she nodded to Lita and headed for the elevator. She frowned on the way down. There was no reason for her to feel nervous -- this was DARIEN! The boss she couldn't stand, not a real date. Not someone she actually cared for. She gave herself a swift pinch to bring her back to reality just as the doors of the lift opened.

Her black heals clicked sharply across the lobby of the apartment building. When she reached the glass doors, a man in a crisp dark suit opened the door for her.

"Ms. Stanton I presume?" She nodded in response. Darien sure had to be a pompous jerk if he could not even drag his ass out of the limo to open the door for her. She frowned as she strode elegantly towards the vehicle. When the driver opened the door, she slid in roughly (without knocking her head this time) and opened her mouth to berate Darien for his lack of manners.

Before a single word could escape her lips, she noticed that she was alone in the luxury car. Frowning again, she crossed her arms over her chest. Within moments, the soundproof window that sectioned Serena off from the driver was lowered.

"Good evening, Ms. Stanton. Mr. Shields apologizes for not receiving you himself, but an unexpected problem arose. There is champagne sitting in the cooler to your right if you please. We will arrive at _Aurora_ within half an hour, so please make yourself comfortable."

Rationally, she deduced that his absence was a blessing in disguise, it would give her a while to cool off from the long day of bickering. Casually, she leaned towards the cooler and helped herself to the bubbly liquid, deciding that a glass of champagne would help ease her temper. She read the label on the bottle and scoffed. Any opportunity to show off she supposed, 'Kristal.'

By the time the limo arrived at_Aurora,_ Serena had managed to down two glasses of the exquisite champagne. After all, if left unopened too long, it would be wasted. By the time the driver opened the door for Serena, she was considerably better prepared to spend an evening with Mr. Shields.

The moment she exited the vehicle, her eyes took in the sight of The Great Eastern Hotel, the night light softening the harshness of the red brick and take on a picturesque appeal. She uttered an almost inaudible, 'thank you' to the driver before allowing her feet to take her automatically towards the door while she admired the architecture of the building.

Once inside, she paused to take in her surroundings and marvel at the marble floors and arched ceilings. It took her a moment to locate the restaurant, but the moment she found it she was greeted by the sound of softly played classical music. An out of place feeling suddenly clutched at her heart. As much as she enjoyed the up-scale life, there was no denying she was not of this social standing. Looking down at her simple black dress, she cursed the annoying feeling in her gut that urged her to impress the man she was waiting for.

A small gasp escaped her lips when she felt a hand on the small of her back. "You look lovely." A deep voice whispered to her.

She blushed, her pulse picking up a tad '_impulse reaction, think nothing of it. It has absolutely_nothing _to do with the man, nothing at all! Remember he is a jerk. You will not talk to him at all tonight. You will eat, and go home and that will be that.'_ Squaring her shoulders, she turned to face him. "Flattery, sir, is very unbecoming of you."

He let out a deep chuckle. "Let's go, our table is this way." He led her calmly to a corner of the restaurant, his hand never losing contact with the small of her back until he proceeded to pull out one of the plush blue chairs for her.

The table was covered in smooth white cloth and host to a lovely centrepiece with two elegant long white candles burning faintly while little bits of ivy spotted the clean linen here and there. She marvelled at the simple elegance of it all. A glint of light caught the corner of her eye and directed her view to a large chandelier hanging above the centre of the restaurant.

"Do you like what you see?" His voice seemed to hold an air of amusement. The sound of his voice helped tear her eyes away from the beautiful architecture of the place. She set her gaze back on Darien and noticed him patiently waiting an answer to his query. She was shocked, to say the least, by his calm and courteous treatment of her. As a result, her only means of response was to nod silently. "Good." The corners of his lips lifted a tad and his eyes seemed to gleam with satisfaction for a moment before his menu hid them from view.

Taking his lead, Serena too examined the menu. She read over the options and was delighted to see some of her favourite dishes present.

Slyly, he peeked over the top of his menu to look at the woman sitting across from him. He looked at her idly as she concentrated on her menu, and watched as her eyes darted quickly across the menu. He saw her bite down lightly on her lower lip in concentration, the action eliciting an involuntary reaction from him. _'Relax Darien. Relax. You act as if you've never seen a woman before! Ignore the tight-fitting dress and how she looks in it -- ignore!'_Quickly, he turned his gaze back to his own menu.

By the time appetisers were served (a platter of shared pâté) the two had exchange no more than formalities with one another. Darien had been trying to start a conversation for the greater part of the evening to no avail while Serena stubbornly kept conversation to a minimum. Normally, under the circumstances surrounding their relationship, Darien would have welcomed the silence. However, tonight this was a problem.

After all, Darien, in his arrogance, had made a wager with his dear friend Andrew earlier that day over lunch at Darien's penthouse.

--

"So tonight is the night you take my dear cousin out for dinner, is it not?" Andrew leaned on the clean tiled centre-island in Darien's kitchen and nibbled on some lettuce as Darien finished serving their lunch.

"You know it is, and don't look at me like that. I've made reservations at a very nice restaurant per your previous threat!"

Andrew raised his eyebrow in surprise. "You better be nice to Serena tonight over dinner."

"Andrew, I am always nice!"

Andrew shot him a reproachful look. "Darien, you are rarely nice to my lovely cousin."

'_Lovely my ass…' _"Look mate, the two of us have a truce now do we not? We will eat. We will go home. All will be well." Inwardly Darien smiled. Normally welcome dinners ran about two or three hours. However, tonight's would last no longer than it took to order, devour and pay.

"I know that look Darien. You're planning to make this the shortest, fastest meal in the history of meals."

Darien sputtered at how quickly Andrew had managed to see the deception. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb with me. I **challenge** you to have at least a couple of good conversations with my cousin -- civilized conversations. In fact, I bet that you won't be able to come out from tonight's dinner with even five facts about my cousin!"

"Did I hear you say challenge…, you mean to propose a bet?" Darien eyed his friend suspiciously.

'_Don't accept. Five is a lot of facts for a girl that won't talk to you. Hell __**one**__ fact will be a challenge! You __**know**__ the two of you only have a truce because you barely talk!'_ Darien's rational side berated his reckless on to no avail. Glaring at his friend he coolly spoke. "State your conditions."

'_Idiot, you daft MONKEY, don't accept!'_ The little Darien inside his head began protesting as if kicking holes in the walls of his bedroom at home.

Andrew smirked. He knew Darien couldn't refuse a challenge. "You know, I don't even know if I should bother setting conditions. I'm _sure_ you won't be able to get five facts. I mean, that's a lot you know."

Darien seethed. _'Don't do it. I know what you're thinking…I'm you after all. Don't succumb to his trickery. You are stronger than that!'_

'_Shut up! I will make my own decisions, you prat!'_

Darien stared Andrew straight in the eyes. "Don't be so sure. In fact I bet you that I can get TEN facts about your cousin!"

'_Idiot, prat, moron…, I said one was difficult, __**ten?**__ You might as well go and fight a third World War on your own!'_ the little Darien in his head brandished two fingers in a colloquial gesture at bigger Darien. _'You are going to regret this you fool!'_

'_Bugger off will you! I'll make my own decisions!'_

'_Says the man arguing with himself…'_ Darien shook his head seemingly trying to shake the voice out.

Andrew's face broke into an uncontrollable smile. "Deal…."

He extended a hand. With the challenge ahead, the two friends sat down to eat and discuss the terms of their arrangement.

--

Silence continued to engulf the two diners as they took their time to cut the food on their plates. Serena was happily savouring one of her favourite dishes, rack of lamb, while Darien absentmindedly ate his venison medallions: his body tense: his mind focused on the task at hand. He _needed_those ten bloody pieces of information!

After a period of increasingly uncomfortable silence, Darien cleared his throat, hoping once more to strike up some sort of conversation. "So, um, your cousin tells me that you are starting University 4 here in the UK."

"That's right," she said, never taking her eyes off her plate.

He shifted slightly in his seat. Why was it that she was making him uncomfortable? Slightly irritated with his behaviour, he tried again. He had a goal, and by god was he going to achieve that goal by the end of the night if his name wasn't Darien M. Shields!

"Well, um," '_um? Are we nervous Darien old chap?' _

'_Sod off, you are damned annoying!'_

'_Can't really sod off mate, I'm you. But if you want to mess this all up yourself, be my guest.'_

Darien shifted again, taking a sip of water to elongate his thinking time._'Start a bloody conversation with me, woman!_'

"So, Andrew never told me exactly what university you were planning on attending..." he paused here to give her an opportunity to enlighten him with the name of her school. However, while he waited for her response, she shot him a seething glance. That's when he saw it. Her blue eyes held all of the underlying frustration he knew she'd been holding back since the day they'd met. Frustration he wasn't sure was entirely his fault. He saw resentment and he saw the fight in her fiery eyes. Unfortunately, he realized she was just going to sit there and make this difficult for him. And then it suddenly hit him. She knew, she _knew_that he needed to find out about her. Somehow, she must know about the bet. How much of the bet he did not know. But if she was going to try to thwart his plan, well then, she was going to fail. He would study her and learn about her if it was the last thing he did.

After all, he was Darien Shields, conqueror of all. One woman and ten facts were not going to stop him. Determined he began again with even more vigour. "So what university _are_you planning on attending?"

By now, their eyes were engaged in a full-on war with one another. All the words the two refused to utter came out as death glares across the otherwise serene table.

"Your average, everyday university…."

"Well would your average university happen to have a name?" The cuts of his meat were becoming more and more savage as the flagging conversation remained at a standstill.

Suddenly, she put down her fork and knife and looked Darien straight in the eyes. She gazed at him with neither hostility, nor anger, but a strange sort of pleading. "Can't you just let it go so we can eat in peace without one of us needing something from the other?"

At this point, he also lowered his utensils. The sudden softness in her voice shook him. Quietly, he responded. "You know about the bet, don't you?" she nodded sadly.

Once again, he found himself shifting uncomfortably in his seat; this time more out of guilt than anything else he felt. "Are you angry?"

"At you? Always," the response came quickly, with little thought. For some reason, Darien didn't like the idea of her being angry with him, as strange as it might have seemed. "But more so, I'm disappointed with Andrew."

'_Bollocks, now look what you've gone and done. You accepted that damned challenge and now she's disappointed in her own cousin!'_

'_Bugger off, you! This is not my fault!'_

'_Oh yeah, then why do you feel so guilty, explain that one, you genius!'_

Darien was furious with his internal self. _'Let me deal with this myself!'_

'_You're not doing a good job of it without me.'_

'_Well I'm sure as hell not doing better _with_ you, so sod off!'_

'_Whatever you say….'_

"I'm sorry." The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could even think about it. He found it strange just how often he seemed to be saying those words to her. A phrase he had almost forgotten entirely in the past few years was now so frequently used to calm her nerves. He was surprised when he found he actually meant it. Every time he had uttered the almost alien phrase to her, most of the time with out conscious acknowledgment of its existence, it had been with utmost sincerity; a sincerity he did not think he still possessed.

He couldn't understand why she constantly believed his words. To his ears, the words seemed foolish: a product of his failing mind. But for some reason, she accepted the phrase. It penetrated her barriers like a hot knife through butter. It was this that seemed to intrigue him.

He wasn't sure why but he registered that a part of him _wanted_ to know more about the woman sitting quietly in front of him, and forcing himself into a challenge where failure was guaranteed was the only means of doing so. He looked at her carefully; her silky hair was half-pinned up at the back of her head, her blue eyes downcast as she passively moved the food on her plate from one side to the other. Stunned into an awkward silence by his insistence, something within him realised that it wanted to know what lay behind those crystal eyes. What was she thinking? Was she mad, sad, what made her those two things, though he already knew the answer to one of the emotions – him, but for some inexplicable reason, he wanted to know more. Wanted to know what made her happy, what made her laugh. Confused by the odd desires running through his head, he tried to drown them out by taking a long gulp from his wine glass.

Serena sat uncomfortably picking at her food. He had said it again: those fateful words that, for some reason, allowed her to forgive him. Despite her seeming disdain for him something in voice forced her to accept him, little as that acceptance was. She knew that she should have brushed the words off as meaningless, simply meant to tame her. But some part of her encouraged her to ignore this gut reaction and believe him, because a part of her knew that those words were foreign to his lips.

After ten minutes of uncomfortable silence in which the two contemplated the strange thoughts swirling through their heads, Darien, swallowing his pride, cleared his throat. "Serena, is there anyway you could forgive Andrew and put your anger for me aside for a night? I am not entirely sure why, and believe me it's hard for me to admit that I don't know something, but I honestly want to try and make our truce a more civil one. I honestly want to get to know a bit more about you. Can we just try to learn something about one another? No strings, two people sharing more than just a meal together?" She looked up at him, confused, yet glaring at him as she surmised that it was entirely his fault she was as confused as she was. He sat there, waiting for her to respond, all the while pleading (though he believed it to be something far more dignified than pleading) with her. Finally, against her better judgement, she allowed her eyes to soften a little. After all, everyone deserved another chance. Nodding, she motioned for him to proceed.

----

Despite the rocky beginning, the two were beginning to form a bond of sorts. As they left the restaurant and made their way towards Leicester Square for dessert they shared anecdotes from their childhood. Darien told Serena all about how he used to terrorize his sister while Serena countered with her stories of how her brother used to terrorize her. "Brothers," she sighed after their chat on siblings, "utterly useless creatures. They're soul purpose in life is to torture us poor defenceless sisters!" She put her hand to her forehead for dramatic emphasis.

Darien gawked. Brothers were the problem now were they? "I beg to differ!_Sisters_ are the ones that have been sent to earth by the devil to torture us lovely boys. After all with out you, we would grow up properly NOT knowing what a tampon looks like or the absorbency rate of a feminine napkin!" His face contorted into a look of disgust as he playfully stuck his tongue out at the thought.

Serena laughed despite herself. '_Strange, an hour ago I would have given anything to be away from this man. And now, here I am, extending our time together by bringing him to one of my favourite cafés.'_ She shook her head lightly. What was getting into her?

The tube came to an abrupt halt causing the two to lurch forward, Serena nearly losing her balance. The automated voice announced their arrival at Leicester Square with the warning, "please mind the gap."

Serena expertly guided Darien through the hordes of people that Leicester Square generated on a Saturday night and brought him to a tiny café across the street opposite the main square, a place called Mocha Café Patisserie 5, essentially an internet café, but a place, which also served a mean cup of coffee and delicious dessert.

Soon the pair were seated, their coffees served, and they were back to chatting with one another. Placing the cup back on the saucer after a satisfied gulp, Darien asked, "So, you never did answer my question. Where are you attending university in October? And no avoiding the question this time!"

Finally giving in, Serena looked down at her coffee and responded softly. "I'm attending Oxford."

Darien gawked at her. By the way, she had been avoiding the question all night, he had assumed it was a school of which she wouldn't be proud to be associated with, as he had discovered earlier that education was very important to her. Had he been drinking his coffee at the time of her admittance he was sure there would have been a nice layer of black-brown liquid on the table.

"Oxford?" was all his baffled mind could process.

Suddenly put on the defensive, she crossed her arms. "What's so shocking about that, didn't think an American could make it into one of the most prestigious schools in the UK?"

Seeing the warning signs of yet another one of their infamous fights approaching, he quickly attempted to diffuse the situation. "No, no don't take it the wrong way. I was just shocked because you've been so reluctant to tell me where you plan on attending. Here I was thinking you were going to some school of which you wouldn't be proud. Oxford, that is spectacular!"

Once again placated, she shrugged. "It's not a big deal really. It's just a school."

"You are far too modest."

She looked deep into her latte and shrugged for the millionth time that day. Confused, Darien tried to figure out why she seemed to be disappointed in attending such a famous academy. "You don't look very proud or happy to be attending Oxford."

Her head snapped up at these words. "It's not that. It is just that I came here under …stressed circumstances and I'd rather not have to relive them right now. Let's just change the topic, shall we?" She put on a smile in hopes of encouraging him to drop the subject.

He nodded his understanding. He would not push her…not tonight anyway.

----11.30 pm----

The couple stood at the entrance to Serena's flat somewhat awkwardly.

"Well…" Serena rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, "thanks for tonight. I actually had a good time." She gave him a genuine smile. Once more, there was hesitation as the two waited for the other to make a move. Taking the initiative, Serena momentarily pressed her palms to his chest as she leaned up to give Darien a peck on the cheek before quickly running through the doors and up to her flat.

Darien was both shocked and pleased by her quick exit. After all, it saved him the odd sensation of being caught with a slight blush on his face. _'What the hell is going on? I never blush! I don't even think I blushed when I was ten!'_

_'C'est l'amour my friend, c'est l'amour….'_

_'Come off it you wanker. It's not love. It's just the air. That's right, the air, it chapped my skin and that's why there is some small amount of blood rushing to the surface. It's to make sure my skin doesn't fall off my face.'_

_'Sure, cold cheeks in the summer.'_

He shook his head; he wasn't attracted to her. _'No not one bit. Attraction is at a ZERO Z-E-R-O nothing. Doesn't matter how close she was to me just now. Doesn't matter how interesting she was all night: there is NO attraction to … her. '_ It was almost too bad that Darien's body so sorely disagreed with, half of, his protesting mind.

'_I have one word for you -- denial!_

Frowning, Darien got into the limo waiting by the curb, '_Denial, my ass.'_

'_Wrong, de Nile is in Egypt.'_

Darien rolled his eyes at his own inner self's pun.

----

Serena pressed her back against her bedroom door and slid down its length slowly: a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "That was so…, unexpected," she whispered to herself. Removing her shoes, she gathered her things and prepared to get into bed, the entire time talking to herself quietly.

"He was so willing to listen to me."

'_Of course he was willing to listen to you, he _needed_ to listen to you! Remember, he has a bet going on! You handed him those ten facts on a silver platter!'_

She paused midway through brushing her hair: realisation dawning on her. That was right; he had a bet going with Andrew. No wonder he had been so willing to talk to her all night. She cursed herself for forgetting his motives and allowing her emotions to get the better of her. Out of anger and frustration, she attacked her hair before slamming herself into bed.

'_Why am I so angry? It's not like I _care_ if he likes me or not. Not like I care.' _She fought the sinking feeling in her stomach. _'Not like I care.' _

Annoyed and frustrated at herself for going back on her word, she forced herself to forget the cute way his nose wrinkled when he laughed and the way his hair fell into his eyes as she fell into a fitful sleep.

----Monday 11.30am----

Darien pushed himself away from his desk and rubbed his tired eyes. He had been trying to tackle some files for the past two hours without success. He was distracted that was for sure. He was distracted by her and irritated with himself for allowing her to distract him. He threw his hands up in protest. It was a vicious circle.

The source of his plight had sourced itself from earlier that day when he arrived at work. Normally, seeing his new secretary put him in a foul mood because of their bickering, however after their night out on Saturday, he was looking forward to saying hello to the woman who managed to entertain and occupy his mind for the better part of a weekend.

However, to his disappointment and agitation, when he cheerfully greeted her and attempted to make conversation, he received nothing but a cold brush off from the stoic blonde. Confused and not willing to start a row with her, he shut himself up in his office. Perhaps she had simply had a bad morning, or so he hoped. He was sure, after all, that he would be hard pressed to have bothered her by simply walking into his office.

Looking down at his desk, he realised that through out the course of his mental recount of the morning his pencil had managed to etch a dark mark into one of his files. Frustrated, he looked around his desk for something to remove it. Reluctantly giving up the search, he buzzed Serena.

"Ms. Stanton," he inwardly sighed at having to revert to calling her by the formal title, "will you grab a box of rubbers for me on your way back from lunch? I seem to have run out."

Only silence came from the other end of the intercom. "Ms. Stanton," he wondered if she had already left for her lunch.

Finally, a soft buzz was heard. Serena's agitated voice barked from the intercom, "Fine," was her forced reply.

"Good." Frowning he stared at the intercom. It was her job to get him things like rubbers! How dare she ignore him in the morning then be annoyed with _him_ for giving her a task to do.

Disgusted, Serena spun around in her chair and silently screamed. How DARE he have the _nerve_ to ask her to pick him up a box of RUBBERS!

'_First he _pretends_to enjoy an evening with me all the while getting information on me to win a bet. __**Then**__ he goes and acts all cheeky to me today. _**Now**_ he wants me to be his pharmacist! I'll show him…'_

Fuming mad she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the building.

----

An hour later, Serena pounded on Darien's office door, a vindictive smile plastered to her face. After a mere two seconds wait, she let herself into the room. Shoving her hand into the little brown bag clutched to her side, she produced a box of Trojan condoms and promptly threw them onto his desk.

"There are your damned rubbers, you jerk."

More shocked than anything else, Darien stood to address the agitated woman. "What are these?" He picked up the box and brandished them at her. "I asked you for rubbers!"

"Are you blind as well as stupid? They are rubbers. What more do you want?"

His eyes went wide with stunned indignation. "Rubbers, as in…" a word on the box of condoms caught his eye as he waved them with renewed fury "small? You got me a package of SMALL condoms. What is this, some sort of joke?"

At this, she gave a satisfied chuckle. "I just picked the one that I thought would best suit you. After all, you asked for them. I'm sorry to say the woman at the counter said they didn't come in_extra_-small, so hopefully whenever you find the need to use them, whoever you're with doesn't mind that they're a loose fit!"

He gawked at her. "You crazy little…" he growled, seeing nothing but red while his throat managed to produce no words, only animalistic sounds of anger. "What is wrong with you, why are you so crazy? I come in today and you treat me like dirt, now you …, with this!" His disgust was emphasised by the box forcefully hitting the bottom of his rubbish bin. A guttural cry escaped his throat and his hand raced to grab his hair.

Throughout his rant, Serena stood in front of him, cool and collected with a satisfied gleam in her eyes. "That's what you get Shields. That's what you get!"

With that, she stormed out of his office and out of the building leaving Darien fuming and baffled at the same time. "Get for what!" he yelled at the already closed door.

Moments later, Andrew entered Darien's office only to have a crumpled note flung at his head. "Whoa, I know I'm late, but really paper throwing over five minutes?" Andrew joked before noticing his friend's enraged state. "Are you all right?"

Darien glared at his friend. "No I am not bloody all right. I mean, does it **look** like I'm bloody all right?"

Andrew took a cautious step towards Darien. "Does this have anything to do with my cousin storming out of the building in a huff, or you losing the bet?"

Darien fumed. He had forgotten…, he had forfeited a bet, lied and told Andrew -- when he was confronted -- that he had not managed to get ten facts out of Serena, and therefore must face the terms of the bet in order to keep the "trust" she had granted him on their date the other night.

Fuming, Darien began packing his things. "I can't talk about any of this right now. I'm taking the rest of the day off." With that, he swept past Andrew in a frenzy, leaving Andrew to stare blankly at an empty office.

Confused, Andrew turned to leave, but trampled on the note that had only moments before been aimed at his head. Picking up the yellow paper, he opened it up to read.

_Serena,_

_I had a __great time on Saturday. _

_I don't know why you were so angry with me this morning, but perhaps coffee sometime this week would help? _

_Darien._

Flummoxed yet curious, Andrew pocketed the note and left the office.

* * *

_1. Tube station – subway station. If you've seen pictures of that circle with a line through it saying underground that's the tube station. Subway in the UK is an underground walkway._

_2. Oyster card is a sort of Tube pass/bus debit card which you buy only once and top up with money so that you don't have to waste time on the queues waiting to buy a tube/bus ticket. It costs ₤3 deposit for a pre pay oyster card. The pre pay is slightly cheaper than normal tickets and is therefore really convenient for daily travellers!_

_3. Flat - Apartment. _

_4. University in England begins in October as opposed to September in North America._

_5. An actual café in London located just outside of Leicester Square on Charing Cross Rd. Really is a great place for dessert! If you go in the summer try their ice cream or tiramisu. _

_-Also there is no footnote because I didn't want to give it away but in case clarification is needed a _RUBBER_ in England often refers to an Eraser as you Rub at the marks on the page to remove them._

Hope you all enjoyed!

Buahahhahahha! Oh what an ending I have left it on…what an ending indeed! Does Serena still have a job? What just happened between the two of them? How will things be patched up? Wait and see!

As always PLEASE review! It's the only way I'll know how I'm doing!

Next time: Romance continues to bud for our two lovely main characters. Stay tuned to see it all unfold!!

Cheers!

_©2007 Jing2 _


	9. New Year

_Edited, reposted Nov. 2007_**  
**

* * *

**Chapter 6:****New Years**

"The nerve of that… that woman, how _dare_ she speak to me like that…, how _DARE_ she, doesn't she know who I am? I'm Darien Shields and besides that, I'm her bloody boss! You know I could fire her for this." Darien paced angrily around his kitchen: waving his finger like a pointer, punctuating key points in his recount of the day's events.

Perched on a stool in the midst of Darien's rant was Raye. Silently, she mused at how much this woman, Serena, was affecting her normally calm and self-possessed brother. How interesting this seemed to her – after all, it's wasn't every day siblings seemingly switch bodies.

"Darien darling, I believe this is the first time I have EVER seen you lose your composure over a woman like this."

Darien glared at his sister. "Have you heard NOTHING of what I've said?"

Sensing his rising hostility, she put her hands up in defence. "Oh, don't be daft, of course I've been listening to you. I'm just commenting on the miraculous power this woman seems to have over you. One dinner with that woman and you're letting her walk all over you. Honestly, I thought you were stronger than that." She teased him, baiting his anger.

He seethed once more. He should have known better than to come to his sister for help. "You are absolutely no help in this matter! Maybe I should invest in cloning technology, so I can have some of that good advice I used to give to you for myself!" his frustration was at a high and it was evidently plastered onto his face.

"So…what exactly _did_ she do that has got you so flustered right now?" Raye had been listening to her brother's rant for nearly half an hour without truly knowing what had fired up his temper.

"What did she do…, what did she do, she…, she…, argh!" at that moment, it was evident that Darien had snapped. He threw his hands in the air, screamed and slumped into a nearby chair.

Stifling a laugh, Raye knelt down beside him to consol her troubled brother. "I thought the two of you made peace the other night."

Growling, Darien reached into his pocket and pulled out a coloured box, tossing it in front of his sister. Confused, she reached out and picked up the object from the tiled floor. It didn't take a rocket scientist to notice that it was a box of condoms. Dumbstruck, she took a closer look -- surely there was something here to explain Darien's behaviour. If not, their loving sibling relationship was suddenly taking a horrific and dangerous turn for the worse. Obviously, the latter was not the answer at all.

It only took another couple of seconds for everything to click – small condoms -- she attempted to say something that might comfort her brother but was unable to control her laughter. Clutching her side, she rolled around on the floor, every now and again taking another look at the box before falling into another fit of suffocating hysterics. There were barely audible phrases escaping her mouth, such as, "sorry, but…oooh, ho- ho," and then came, "terrible…terrible…how could she…before me, brilliant!" all of which punctuated by the sound of Raye gasping for breathe.

From his position against the 'kitchen island' Darien glared daggers at his sister. If only looks could kill he'd line both Raye and Serena up and have at it.

It wasn't until a good three minutes of laughter had subsided that Raye managed to prop herself up and clutch at her now sore stomach. "I _must_ meet this brilliant girl!" she smiled genuinely as she took one last look at the comical box. With those "consoling" words, she dropped the condoms into Darien's lap, a mixture of fury and indignation on his face. She gave him a quick pat on the head and made her way towards the study; muttering jovially to herself "brilliant, absolutely bloody brilliant."

"That's the last time I ever ask you for advice!" Raye batted his comment away and closed the door to the study with a soft thud.

'_Fine load of help she was,__should have known better than to go to a girl for advice, mate. That was just plain idiocy on your part.'_

He had no energy left to argue with his inner self. Taking the little voice's thoughts into consideration he closed the door to his bedroom and proceeded to call the only person he could think of, Andrew.

Ten minutes later

Darien slammed the phone down hard into its cradle. 'That was the last time he'd EVER listen to his inner self -- ever. '

"Stupid Andrew, reacting like Raye…bloody puff…" he grumbled, mumbled, groaned and whined. Such was the state of things for the next three months.

At work, Darien and Serena were nothing more than curt. Andrew's pleadings had been for naught as neither was willing to bend to the whims of the other, both too stubborn for their own good.

The last two weeks of Serena's sojourn as secretary, she was miserable. For a split second or two, she had imagined a decent relationship forming between the two – a companionship she would have been willing to partake in. But the image had been quickly shattered and buried by reality. The two were simply too incompatible.

Work had been an ordeal, with every day posing a struggle to uphold her truce with him, neither fighting with one another. But this was almost worse in a way. Instead of confronting the problem at hand, she spent hours harbouring hateful feelings towards the dark haired man, who had, disturbingly, penetrated her defences.

Darien was no better off. Serena obviously hated him, and this knowledge made him bitter and resentful. Work had become a chore as it meant facing another day filled with a woman who clearly wanted nothing to do with him, but who still managed to find ways to creep into his mind. She was a plague he could not over come and he was a demon she could not outrun.

Darien received a shock when he walked into work one Monday, fully prepared to endure another day's worth of icy stares, but was greeted by Sue Sanders, his regular secretary. He had been momentarily confused, but quickly realized that her three week break had passed by without his notice. He trudged to his office as a small part of him grew more bitter and disappointed at the absence of Serena's face. Off putting as this was, Darien decided to take it as a good sign. At least now he could go back to focusing on work…he hoped.

Her departure from London in mid September had been abrupt to say the least. The moment her work at Red Rose Enterprises had ended, she began packing up her things for her one and a half hour drive to Oxford – Lita in tow; her reasoning? An early arrival at school would be the best way to start off her first year as a graduate student. Darien was not a factor at all for her speedy departure…or so she assured herself.

The drive up the M402 and various other motorways had been a silent one. Lita kindly did not press Serena on the matter of departing from London a good three weeks ahead of schedule and so she kept her silence in the car, leaving Serena to her own thoughts.

It was more than the fact that she was mad at Darien. It was that she seemed almost disappointed by the turn of events. She assured herself over and over again that she was under no circumstances leaving early due to her fear of possibly running into Darien. She was simply ready for a change of scenery and going to school seemed like the right thing to do at the time.

She hated that he made her feel comfortable around him and had this strange power to make her act like a child around him. And most of all she resented how he had looked at her that night at the restaurant like he had really cared. She scoffed at the dastardly way he had used those piercing eyes to coerce her into telling him all about her and wondered what he had won as a result of such a bet. What had her secrets and personality been worth to him? She hated that he had used her, and she hated, more than anything, that she had let him.

The leaves of autumn quickly disintegrated at the hands of the winter wind. Serena sat in the window of her flat thinking about how quickly her first semester had flown by.

She had spent months pouring over books and dissertations. She spent what little free time she had at a local pub with a bunch of her fellow graduate students discussing and debating at their leisure any topic which came to mind. There were times where she completely forgot the disastrous circumstances surrounding her departure from London. And other times she found herself lazily daydreaming about a man with dark hair and blue eyes. She did however brush such instances off as quickly as possible and throw her mind into something new and challenging, soon forgetting the lapse in self control.

By the time the pages of Serena's calendar had flipped to December she was ready for the journey back to London where she would spend her month-plus long holiday with Andrew: as returning to the United States was not entirely at the top of her priority list.

"That will be twelve pounds fifty please." Serena waited for the customer to fish the bills out of his wallet. "Seven fifty is your change, thank you very much, please come again." She waved the customer out of the bakery and waited for the next person to step up to the till, Serena had been lucky enough to find a local bakery that needed help over the winter break and was thankful that the flexible hours allowed her time to work on her studies. She looked wistfully at the pastries and dreamt of the delicious faire she was sure to receive when Lita returned from her winter vacation.

Lita's relationship with Nathan had taken off wonderfully and seemed stronger than anything else she had ever experienced. The two were caught up in a whirlwind romance, the stuff of movies. Sighing, Serena imagined how happy Lita must be off in the Swiss Alps, or the South of France, or wherever she might be at the moment, cuddled up snug and warm with her new lover. There was a twinge of jealousy in Serena's mind that was quickly eradicated. She was happy for her friend, glad that Lita had finally found a good man to treat her well.

Serena stood there, idly tending to the customers as they passed by. She watched as people bustled beyond the glass window and reflected on her stay with Andrew. Christmas had come and gone quickly and quietly, but it was a cheery Christmas none the less. To her surprise, Andrew had taken her on a trip to the south of England for a weekend and wonderful timing it had been too, for they had caught a rare Christmas snowfall that kissed the land.

On the twenty-ninth of December, Andrew had asked Serena whether she had any plans for New Years Eve. When she quickly responded that she had none and was simply hoping the two of them would sit at home and watch the fireworks on the screen, he promptly responded with a resounding no. Apparently, there was a party he attended with out fail yearly and this year she would be joining him.

Not really one to argue, when she had nothing to argue over, she agreed. That was why at six o'clock on the thirty-first of December, Serena's room was in complete disarray.

Andrew had refused to disclose the location of the party and while Serena found this particular fact slightly odd, she did not question his motives. Instead, she had spent the last hour of her time attempting to find a proper outfit. She didn't want anything formal, yet she did not want to be too casual either. She wanted something sassy but not revealing. In essence she was looking for something classy, the perfect outfit, something all her own; unfortunately, that was exactly what was eluding her.

There was a pounding on the door followed by a muffled declaration of "half an hour left!"

Flustered, she rummaged through the heap of clothing on her bed. Finally, surrendering her plan of "original _and_ classy" she settled for classy and donned a simple cream coloured half-off the shoulder sweater and a free-flowing knee length black-satin skirt. Putting her hair in a simple pony tail she touched up her light make up and deftly clasped a silver necklace around her neck before grabbing her purse and stepping into the living room.

She heard a whistle coming from the other side of the room. Rolling her eyes, she smiled and made an exaggerated turn, allowing the skirt to flare out a tad.

The two laughed their way out of the flat and all the way to the car where they shared a comfortable twenty minute ride to their destination.

Entering the penthouse suite where the party was situated, Serena found herself in awe. No matter how many of her cousin's associates she met, she was still struck dumb by their shameless displays of wealth.

The hardwood floors were punctuated here and there with rich silk carpets. The doors and every frame crafted expertly out of rich woods. There were antique porcelain pots around the room as well as beautiful shining ornaments galore.

She looked to her left into another room and saw perfectly preened waiters walking around with hors d'oeuvres and other waiters standing behind a long white linen table serving delicious foods.

Before her mouth could begin watering, Andrew ushered her towards the coat room where the two deposited their excess items of clothing before beginning to mingle.

She began to ask Andrew who the host of the party was, but when she turned around, she found only a sea of nameless faces. Slightly annoyed, she began a fruitless search.

By the time she had made it across the flat, she had yet seen neither hide nor hair of her cousin. Twice however, she had mistaken others for him, who of course had brought about some mildly embarrassing moments and explanations. Momentarily giving up, she made her way towards the buffet. After all, free food, free drinks, who was she to forsake such things just because she was currently missing her one and only tie to the party.

Throughout the night she continued the search for her long lost cousin to no avail. She had however, managed to meet a boat load of interesting people. Amongst them were a gallery owner from Italy named Chad who knew her cousin; a lovely woman named Mina who also knew her cousin and upon learning that Serena was Andrew's cousin admitted she found him "fairly decent looking." She also found herself talking to various people who worked under Andrew's direction, yet through the sea of people, she had yet to bump into her cousin.

Not finding Andrew posed two problems; the first being that she still had no proper tie to the party; although Mina had turned out to be a wonderfully entertaining person and the two were quickly building a friendship. The second problem was that she still had no idea whose party she was attending. She had refrained from asking any of the people she'd met, lest she unwittingly make a fool of Andrew or more embarrassingly, herself.

It wasn't until eleven o'clock, in the midst of a light-trivial conversation about shoes with Mina, when Serena saw something that made her blood boil and her eyes glaze over. There, across the room was none other than the nefarious Darien Shields, not surprisingly with some woman hanging off his arm, and as icing on the cake -- her infuriating cousin tagging behind the couple-greeting everyone in their path.

Barely excusing herself, she stormed towards her red flag. Reaching Andrew, she tapped him soundly on the shoulder. Turning, he grinned.

"Sere, there you are. I've been looking everywhere for you!" he embraced her before swinging her around to face the person he had been talking to moments before. "Gary, this is my cousin, Serena, Sere, this is Gary, head of our legal department."

Serena politely shook hands with the middle aged man before giving Andrew a death glare and convincing him to talk privately with her in a far corner.

"What is _he_ doing here?" she pointed in the general direction of the man she had come to dislike – greatly. Anger, after all, only festers with time, "better yet, what am I doing here and why did you drag me to this damned party then leave me alone? I mean, where have you been for the past couple of hours?" She whispered, the words flying at Andrew like daggers. Blushing, he tried to respond.

"Sere, I thought you'd enjoy a nice New Year's Eve party. I kind of figured, well hoped you might not realise it was Darien's." He closed his eyes and put his hands up to protect his face and awaited the explosion, or slap he expected from her. When nothing happened, he allowed himself a small peek. Momentarily stunned by his vanishing cousin, he soon spotted her near the 'coat check.' The only thought striking him was that she moved awfully fast through large crowds.

Colliding into people as he traversed the room, he finally caught up with her and took her arm as she forcefully shoved her arms into the sleeves of her coat.

"Serena please calm down."

Throwing him a harsh glare, she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "I want to leave _now_."

"We can't. I'm sorry, but I have to stay. This isn't just a party. I'm striking a deal with the head of a big company at midnight; I have to stay till at least then."

"Fine, I'll go back on my own. Goodnight, Andrew." Desperate, he ran to block her path towards the door. "Serena, please – stay for just a little longer, three quarters of an hour, that's _all_I need. Please, just wait for the fireworks to go off, let him sign the papers and the night will be over, I promise." His eyes begged her.

She didn't know why he needed her there so badly, but she regretfully conceded. "I don't want to be around him, Andrew." Her voice was soft but strong. "I just can't be around him."

Andrew pulled her into a tight hug. He did not need to ask to figure out who she was referring to. He had long since gotten over the idea that his best friend and his favourite cousin would become friends. But it still hurt him to hear her so resolved over the matter. "Look, I'm sorry I tricked you into coming, but please, just stay a little longer. You only saw him for a moment, didn't even speak to him, and that was all. With all these people around, I'm sure you won't have to see him again tonight. Please stay." His voice pleaded.

She took a deep breath and pulled away from her cousin's warm embrace. "You owe me BIG time, Andrew."

"Thank you." Graciously he helped her with her coat and led her back to where she had been standing before her rage had gotten the better of her.

Andrew looked at his slumped over cousin. She would thank him, eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not in a month, but when she and Darien stopped being such pig-headed idiots, she'd thank him then.

With fifteen minutes left before midnight, Serena found herself plastered to one of the large windows overlooking the crowds of people beneath. The touch of the cool glass on her forehead calmed her frazzled nerves.

Not five minutes ago she had seen him. With anger in her eyes, she followed his movement, and the movement of the woman desperately clinging to his arm. Across the room their eyes met and for a moment the red that clouded her vision melted leaving nothing but the blue of his eyes; emotionless eyes that nonetheless bore holes into her soul. Before her brain could drag her out of the fog that had rolled in, he gave her a smirk and pulled his human ornament closer to him.

Quickly, Serena found herself restored to her previous shade of red, or rather a shade of green that looked strikingly like red. As she let the cold slither from her forehead to the rest of her body, she realised, fitfully, that she was somewhat jealous of the woman attached to Darien's arm. Of course she was still horribly angry with the man. That fact would never change. But, she reluctantly admitted, jealousy was mixed into her emotions, ever so lightly that was.

Slamming her head lightly against the window pane, she cursed herself. What was it about him that angered her so, and yet left her with an army of butterflies in her stomach? What was it about him that kept him lodged to the inside of her skull -- popping up here and there when she thought she'd forgotten about him? Why was she jealous of some woman she'd never seen before in her life, just because she was his date, and why did she care if he looked at her? More importantly, why did she care when he didn't?

She had told Andrew she had no desire to be anywhere near Darien. Had she said that because she loathed him and did not want to start a scene in the middle of such a lavish party, or was it because she was afraid of these strange feelings she had towards him? Whenever she was around him, she not only felt the urge to kick, punch and otherwise maim him, but also felt a nagging desire to be closer to him, to talk to him the way she had the night of their date all those months ago. Did she not want to be around him, because she did not trust that her willpower would be strong enough to resist his charm and thus send her into another several months of anguish, or was it simply because she could not stand the sight of his pompous face, or the way he held himself like a king among men.

All these questions ran through her head and clouded her thoughts. She was so deep in her musings that she did not register the increasing noise behind her. She barely noticed the massive quantities of confetti falling like snow inside and out, barely acknowledged the sounds of fireworks and noise makers. It was the New Year and she stood there numb to it all. It was as if her mind refused to process the information. What she did register however, was the pair of strong hands that spun her around and the body that pinned her to the glass. She noticed the mouth pressed up against hers, the hand cupping the back of her head while another pulled her close to the foreign body. She noticed the stark dark blue eyes boring into her shocked ones and more importantly, she noticed how gentle, yet fevered the whole exchange was.

Her eyes grew as large as the moon as she stared at the now closed eyes and black hair of the man who confused her like no other had before. Her rational mind was quickly kicked to the curb as she fell deeply into the kiss. Her arms instinctively wrapped around his neck and, if possible, pulled him even closer to her body. They danced a motionless dance. The world of noise and cheering fell behind as the blood rushed to their lips and for Darien, other parts of the body as well. Serena tilted her head to the side to extend the pleasure of the kiss -- after all, who was she to fight a good kisser at midnight on New Year's Eve?

The sounds of the party were completely drowned out as he brushed his lips up against hers, blood pounding in his ears from the excitement of having her in his embrace. He admitted to himself that her presence at the party had been unexpected: shocking, irritating, horrific, and blissful all at the same time.

He had seen her across the room, gazing out the window, her body a vision of beauty in the simple clothes she wore. His legs had begun moving of their own accord, bringing him quickly towards her. She had not noticed any of this, so lost in her thoughts and he in his. His mind saw nothing but her as his arms reached out to spin the goddess around until she stood before him.

Darien's eyes rolled slightly into the back of his head as he felt their tongues mingle. The kiss was timid, slow, yet undeniably sensual. He had imagined this moment for months. He had seen her in his mind yielding to him as she did now and he revelled in the knowledge that reality trumped fantasy. He almost shivered in pleasure when her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, drawing them closer together.

He broke the kiss for a moment to look at her eyes; if only he had known the consequences of his actions he would have ignored such a foolish sentimental desire. The millisecond they were apart was long enough for the spell Serena had been engulfed in to be cast into oblivion.

Clarity and sense rushed back into Serena's muddled mind hitting her over the head. He watched as every emotion under the sun filtered through her eyes until she landed on two: disgust and anger, these seeped out from her eyes and washed over him before she pushed her way past him towards the balcony.

The cold air hit her like a brick; with out a coat, the winter air chilled her to the bone instantly. She crossed her arms over her chest and clutched herself for warmth. She stood there confused. She had just let Darien Shields kiss her. More so, she had kissed him back…what had she been thinking?

She shook her head, more confused than she had been ten minutes ago. She touched her lips; they couldn't have been kissing him for more than a minute, but already she could feel their warmth with the extra blood rushing to them. She had let him devour her in a kiss that could be described as nothing less than steamy. She admitted reluctantly that it had been enjoyable, but she assured herself, it had been merely a physical enjoyment.

An image of him with his lips on hers flashed behind her eyes. "Oh god, what am I doing?" she whispered to the night air. How could it be that she had enjoyed the exchange? After all, she hated him -- didn't she? If she hated him, then why was her body so insistent on conflicting with every decision her mind made?

'_Honey, when Zeus flew down as a bird, women couldn't resist him; do you think you're any different? Gods are meant to be kissed.'_

'_He is no god.' _She cursed this never ending argument.

'_He's got the wit and the body of one and don't forget the kiss.'_ She blushed at the image her mind provided for her in that moment.

Frustrated and angry, she re-entered the party and went straight for her coat. She could not stay around him any longer lest she lose her mind completely.

He watched as she pulled out her mobile and messaged Andrew. She would wait for him by the car, but there was no way she would wait any longer within the confines of these walls.

He watched her as she opened the door and made a hasty retreat never knowing he'd been lurking within the shadows of the balcony: his own internal debate taking over his mind. His eyes burned into the back of her head as she ran from him. He couldn't help standing there and wishing he wasn't the source of her disgust; fearing his desire to be with her had only driven her father away from him than previous circumstances ever had.

Slamming his fist against a wall, he took several deep breaths. He couldn't stop thinking about her. And now with the sensation of her body pressed against his fresh in his mind, he felt more tormented than before. If Serena was going to leave him unsatisfied and irate; well then, he might as well address one of the two. Composing himself, he went in search of Beth, his date for the night, with her Serena-like hair and Serena-like figure. He knew he was going to regret his actions in the morning -- a lot.

* * *

1. Puff – or else a pufter – Brit for gay. Not exactly P.C. – not exactly the nicest thing to call a person but what can I say, it's between friends. I mean absolutely no harm in using this term and I hope nobody take major offence.  
2. Till – cash register  
3. Mobile - cellphone. (not sure if I've defined that yet)

Yeah I know this was a short chapter but hey—ROMANCE! Eh eh eh? What'd u guys think? I hope you all liked it and happy belated New Years! (Happy still Chinese New Years!)

Thanks to everyone for reviewing the last chapter and I hope you all review this one too! **Pls. Review**! Thanks mucho! Love you all! D until next time. Cheers!

_©2007 Jing2 _


	10. Molasses

_Edited, reposted Nov. 2007_

* * *

**Dedication: Thanks dearly to my editor GalenaSteel who helped make this chapter what it is now! Without her input andcriticism this chapter wouldn't have been the same.  
Also thanks to all the reviewers who have stuck with me since the beginning. You know who you are and you inspire me every day. Thanks so much for staying faithful to this love child of mine. You all rock! **

Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter as much as I do so enjoy this long overdue instalment!

**Chapter 7**: **Molasses**

He leaned against the wall of his shower, head bent allowing the hot liquid to splash against his torso. An image of the woman he had had last night flickered into his mind and he felt mildly ill. Quickly he grabbed a bar of soap and began rubbing it fiercely against his body.

Emotions were complicated things he never imagined he would ever have to deal with. Emotions like disgust. He was disgusted with himself, but what for? Sex? Because all logic pointed to a flashing NO and yet here he was scrubbing layer after layer of skin off as unwanted images of the previous night flashed in his eyes. He turned up the heat in the water to better remove the dirt from his flesh. Guilt was another emotion he seemed to be experiencing. He cursed. Confused, he tried to discern the cause of this strange sensation. The last time he had felt guilt was when, at ten, he had been caught "accidentally" cutting Raye's hair…in her sleep. So then certainly he was not feeling guilty for sleeping with that woman. After all, what had his life been about for the past several years if not the indulgent pleasures of the flesh? If there were any thoughts of the woman from the previous night they were thoughts of the unsatisfied nature. After all, she had not been what he really wanted. Truthfully, none of the women he had been with in the past couple of months had satisfied him because none of them had been who he really wanted.

Turning off the water, he stepped out of his shower onto a dark terrycloth mat.

Deep down, he knew what had left him so frustrated, disgusted, guilty and riddled with more emotions than he even thought possible in one human being let alone himself.

It had been the kiss, that fateful kiss he had stolen from her lips.

And there in lay the problem. He could not rid himself of the memory of the kiss. Moreover, a nagging part of him kept insisting that he had _stolen_ the kiss. Annoyed with himself for feeling such an overwhelming sense of frustration, he rolled his eyes and watched as the vicious circle that was Serena's effect on him continued to spin into eternity. He was Darien Shields! And he did not need to apologise for any of his actions. After all, he had never felt remorse for stealing anything he knew to belong to him before. It was his solid belief that the race of women, though not subservient to him, was his for the taking.

_ 'Aw is wittle Darien feeling sorry because he accosted Serena? Does he think he's forced himself onto her? Is that why he feels disgusting? Poor disgusting Darien. Or maybe because once again he chose a date that looked like her?' _

He frowned. _'I did not accost her. She kissed me back! And I don't know what you mean by looked like her.' _

_'You know what I mean. Besides, do you think she really wanted to kiss you? After all, what do you have to offer her other than an STD procured through all of your promiscuity?' _

_'Promiscuity is for women.' _

_'Now you're simply being chauvinistic and an idiot.' _

_'I do not have an STD' _

_'You're right, but wouldn't that just be wonderful?' _

_'If I had an STD YOU would have an STD as well. How would that be good at all?' _

_'Because you having to live with something for the rest of your life as a consequence for all your actions would feel like poetic justice. And I forgot we were the same person for a moment.' _

_'How is it that the voice in my head can be so rude to me?' _

_'Insanity defies logic Darien.' _

_'You are insane.' _

_'I mean you, after all who bloody talks to themselves while they're standing stark naked in a bathroom? Honestly.'_

Growling again, he grabbed a plush green towel from the nearby rack and dried off, all the while ignoring the little bugger of a thing that talked to him from inside his own head.

If he were to be totally 125 percent straight and honest with himself, then he would admit that he was mad at himself for causing a look of hate to pass Serena's face when all he really wanted was the opposite. He wanted to bury himself so far into her that it would take years to remove himself from the confines of her body and mind. He wanted to wake up next to her in the morning and share little secrets at night. And most of all he wanted to see her smile when she looked at him instead of the scowl he so often incited, a look that seemed so unfitting for her. He had never wanted to be there for a woman before in his life and if he were to be honest with himself he would admit that, as cliché as it all sounded, all he wanted was to be there for Serena: body and soul.

If he were honest with himself he would acknowledge that the lurching of his stomach last night when he noticed Serena happily chatting with Mina was excitement and not, as he had convinced himself, a burp which had not fully escaped his throat. If he were honest with himself he would stop passing off his desires for the blonde haired vixen as lust and accept that he was falling for her. If he were honest with himself he would admit that the kiss they had shared was not only intoxicating but it pulled on not only his groin but more importantly, his heart. If he were honest with himself he would remember how much he had enjoyed that one night, so long ago, when they had shared dinner together. He would remember that that night she had shown him so many little facets of her life, little morsels of herself that he was interested in learning more about. He would recall just how she had laughed – a laugh that he had brought to her lips, an action that he had yet to repeat. But it was easier not to be honest, to remember the night as nothing but a necessity when he was forced to remember it. And so, like the note he had written to her so long ago, his feelings lay crumpled up in the rubbish bin, no more than a whisper, no more than a figment of his imagination.

So he wasn't honest with himself. After all, it was harder to admit something when one could not even fathom its existence. That and denial was the best friend of the foolhardy and Darien was surely foolhardy. The notion of actually caring for Serena was hidden deep within himself, buried right down in the recesses of his mind with high school chemistry lectures on moles and the intricate workings of quilting he had once been forced to learn.

And so the little hints that his heart were giving him were passed off easily as desires of the body.

Once more his heart attempted to throw a coup over his conscious as it replayed the kiss which had been so sweet that it left him wanting more. His eyes glazed over as he remembered the feel of her body against his; the two fit like pieces of a puzzle with neither puzzle piece wanting to admit such a truth.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. It was only then that he realized his body had gone through the actions of dressing automatically and that he was now sitting at the foot of his bed. Before he could even respond to the knock, his sister came waltzing into his room carrying a very desirable tray of coffee.

Raye had returned to Italy in mid September after staying with Darien for the better part of the month and had just arrived at his home a little over a week ago to spend Christmas with the family, bringing her boyfriend Chad along with her for their three week stay.

"Happy New Years brother" she grinned. Smiling despite his musings he invited her to sit and chat with him. The two were able to keep a smooth conversation going despite both minds being elsewhere. Years of pretending to ignore one another had obviously not gone to waste.

Raye sat there politely "listening" to her brother as she contemplated the best way to slip into conversation the reason for her little visit. She had spent over fifteen minutes pacing outside her brother's room before mustering the courage to enter. It wasn't every day that Raye found herself hesitant to speak her mind, but when it came to her brother, erring on the side of caution was never a bad call. The reason for her hesitance stemmed simply from how strange the whole situation she was about to address felt. Last night she had seen her brother kiss a girl. While a simple kiss in itself was not startling, what she had seen was no simple kiss. For the first time in Raye's life, she felt as if she had intruded on something terribly private, something so intimate that no one should have been privy to the knowledge of its occurrence and yet she seen, from across the room, a passionate kiss that caused the normally brazen woman to turn away with a blush.

She had absolutely no idea what Darien was saying, nor did she have any real interest. Finally she decided that there was no use wasting her time trying to be subtle when she had never accomplished such a feat before.

" Darien darling, who was that breathtaking woman from last night?"

He gawked at her, thrown completely off balance by her sudden outburst. He choked on his coffee as an image of Serena popped into his head once again. As he tried to rid his wind pipe of liquid his mind reeled thinking of a way out of the corner he was sure his sister was about to back him into.

Like the helpful sister she was, Raye began slapping Darien's back furiously. This action, in all actuality, did nothing to help his choking but who was Raye to throw away a perfectly good chance to hit her brother?

When his coughing fit subsided he glared at his sister. How lovely of her to give him a red welt on his back as a New Years present.

"What are you talking about?" A minute of choking had given Darien no better idea than the "idiot card" approach.

She laughed in the face of the beast. For all of his ability to bury his emotions and to control the business world he really was terrible at thinking on his feet. The "idiot card"? Honestly, who did he think he was dealing with?

"Nice try, but you fail. Tell me who she was. She was far classier than your average date. Take that bird you brought to the party who spent the whole night oozing over your rich associates."

"She's no one special."

"Right, which is why I saw you sneaking glances at her all night. It was almost as if you actually cared for her."

His head snapped up at the words and his eyes hardened. "I don't care about her. And if you did see me looking at her it was merely in speculation. I didn't think she would show up because she and I don't really get along all too well."

Again Raye arched one of her sculpted eyebrows and motioned for her brother to continue.

"So she was…."

"Serena" Raye frowned, "the secretary you say you hate but secretly love?"

Darien gave her a condescending look. "I do not _love_ her. I can't even stand to be in the same room as her."

"Well then, kissing her was a great way to prove that."

Darien stared his sister straight in the eyes. Ready to retort with a witty comment but none made their way from brain to mouth.

" Darien, I listened to you complain about her for hours the last time I was here. If you ask me, I think you're smitten with her. You act like a primary school child who pulls the hair of the girl he likes. Like I said a couple months ago, you've never let a girl get to you the way she does. She might just be exactly what you need; she might be the one."

Darien let out a hearty sigh and rolled his eyes once again. "The one Raye, you don't really believe in that do you? Honestly, sometimes I am sure that the extra time in our mother's womb caused some brain damage in that pretty little head of yours. Your romantic delusions are wasted on me. I am not smitten by her and do not equate me to a primary school child. I will admit that I was looking at her last night. But not because of some silly notion you may have running through your head but because of the simple fact that she has legs up to here," he put his hand up to his torso in reference, "and she is everything I look for in what you so endearingly call a "sex toy". Besides love isn't for me Raye. Good for you for finding Chad but I'm not you and I don't need, nor want love."

His heart screamed at him for lying, for trying to deceive his sister and for deceiving himself. It seemed that every organ in his body, between his head and his heart, were providing flawless soundproof for the two.

Rolling her eyes, she stared at her brother. "Firstly, I would like you to know that I received quite the right amount of oxygen thank you. Secondly, I cannot believe that you are still trying to lie to yourself. Do you actually _believe_all of that crap you're trying to feed me. One day you are going to realize that you are sad and lonely and you are going to wish that you had grabbed this one by the horns and held on for dear life. I saw how angry she was when she left. You must have done something to piss her off. And you better hope that you can fix things. Regardless of whether this girl really is the one or not you ought to give her a chance. You might learn something new, like how to feel. She's already proven that she is not going to be one of your sex toys. She isn't going to fall at your feet Darien; you're going to have to court her if you want her, even if it's just for her body."

"Courtship is for women."

Raye just stared at the infuriating man she was forced to call brother. "Sometimes you disappoint me. How is it, that someone so chauvinistic, pig headed and _stupid_ can be related to me!"

He was more than irritated with her now. What business was it of hers to butt into his life and tell him what to do and with whom? "Yeah, well, how I can be related to such an air head! I mean, is that black hair colour real or is it from a tube because I swear you sound like a blonde Ms. Romantic!"

"Terribly clever Darien, did you come up with that yourself or did you look it up in the big book of lame insults?"

"You're just mad because I don't need to rely on something as silly as love to get me through my day."

"Bugger off Darien. This is your problem not mine so don't you dare try to bring me down with you. I have Chad and even Andrew who has had his heartbroken is willing to try again. All you are is a depressed, bitter old prat and I hope she breaks your heart for a change. Grow up, grow some balls and for god sakes grow a damned conscience!"

She stormed off towards the door, white knuckles grabbing the handle, she turned around to land one last remark. "Women are more than toys Darien." She slammed the bedroom door heavily. Times like these she wished sibling rivalry, could turn into sibling _riffle_ry.

To the closed door he muttered one last rebuttal. "Oh but are they fun toys." A second thought and split second later he screamed at the closed door "AND I AM NOT OLD!"

He frowned. Sometimes encounters with his sister made him simply want to break things.

Growling, he walked down to the kitchen to procure another cup of hot steaming life-support. He was not old or depressed. He was on the top of the financial world, had everything money could possibly buy and he certainly _had_ balls! That one was for sure. He was not bitter or jealous about Raye's relationship with Chad. He was happy for her; she was happy. Finding one person to settle down with worked for her and his bachelorhood worked for him. It didn't bother him that he didn't have someone to come home to at night or someone to buy things for like he had imagined doing as a child before circumstances and the loss of childhood innocence had brought him to where he stood now, staring at a row of photographs in his living room.

Sighing, he looked at the picture with a tinge of forgotten longing. There encased in a wooden frame stood a beautiful middle-aged couple happily looking on at a pair of children; one boy, one girl of about ten who were wrestling one another to the grass while a third, separate child in his mid-teens looked on with annoyance. Darien remembered the day well – all those years ago on his family's estate. He remembered how his father had once said that Raye and he had been born fighting. While they had stopped with their physical brawls when broken bones became too much of a common place occurrence, a small part of him noted that broken bones sometimes healed better than the cuts words gouged.

There were times when he missed the simplicity of childhood, a childhood he had only enjoyed briefly. He had long ago traded his childhood emotions and idle dreams for power and a suave controlling exterior, forgetting the dream of a family.

Taking another sip of his coffee, he replaced the photograph on the mantle, careful to hide the brooding teenager from view behind the frame of another photograph.

----

Darien was grateful for the day off from work. It wasn't often that he had time to mill around his house and think. Casually, he pulled a book from the shelf and sat himself down in a plush chair in his library. His eyes skimmed the pages of the novel as his mind began formulating possible encounters with Serena. Not that he was really devising a plan to see her because that would mean that he wanted to see her for more than physical reasons. Rather he was simply allowing his mind to wander off as it pleased without restriction.

_'Be vigilant Darien. No emotional attachments!' _

_'Be vigilant? What is this neighbourhood watch?' _

_'Shut up.' _

_'Well since you asked SO politely. Face it you want her.' _

_'Well of course I do.' _

_'I mean…' _his inner self hung his head at the images which flashed by, all consisting of a blonde, himself and some rather colourful positions and very little clothing involved, '…_you are hopeless,' _his inner self turned his back on Darien.

Once again frustrated, Darien abandoned Dickens for an ice cold shower.

----

This was ridiculous. He was turning into an uncontrollable teenager! How utterly disgusting, he thought. This was ludicrous. He hadn't needed the aid of a cold shower in ages yet here he was towelling off from one, the effects already wearing off. Rolling his eyes, he growled – maybe women were right about men after all. Throwing his towel aside he re-entered the shower. His water bill was going to be through the roof this month.

Throwing himself on his bed he sighed. _'Note to self. Cold water plus therapeutic massaging shower-head equals no help at all.'_ He should have known one plus one would never equal three.

At times it was frustrating having only a handful of people he could talk to. One of the few people in his life he felt he could confide in was currently related to the woman of his desires and so that option was out. Another would of course be Chad whom Darien considered family already and whom he had been lucky enough to befriend despite Chad's rather questionable tastes in women. But even Darien was not desperate enough to willingly stick his head into the lion's den. Raye was surely still mad and would most likely not even allow Darien near her room let alone near her fiancé for a chat.

Rolling over in bed, his eyes went wide. The neon lights flashed 14:30. How was it possible for time to pass so quickly when there was absolutely nothing to do? Jumping out of bed he noted that his parents would be by soon for their annual New Years dinner as well as a week long stay. It was important for him to make sure that everything in the house was ready and in order for their arrival. His parents were particular people and were accustomed to having things to their specifications.

Running towards Raye's room, he banged loudly. There were only two and a half hours left before the Shields arrived as much help as possible would be needed to prepare the guest suite to suit his parents; consequences of sibling rivalry be damned.

After several loud pounds, the door opened a crack to reveal Raye's angry face.

"You've wasted so much time analyzing or daydreaming that you forgot about mum and dad's visit and now you need my help to get ready. Well brother, you are out of luck because this sis is not helping one bit." She slammed the door in his face. Before his mind could question how she knew what he was thinking her muffled cries came from within

"I know what you're thinking – twin connection. Have fun brother dearest!"

"If everything isn't done on time it's on your head too!" He hoped to guilt her into helping him.

"Nice try. Goodbye." Frowning he stuck his tongue out at the closed door.

"Right back at you!" He heard her scream. She was far too good at the whole "I know what you're thinking and doing" game. Damn her.

Grumbling, he stalked off to find Eldon to check on dinner preparations. Fighting with her would only waste precious time he did not have. Regardless of the years of delegated, regulated life it seemed that procrastination and failed time management were still constantly poking their offensive heads into Darien's life.

For the next two hours he ran around making sure all food would meet his parent's expectations, that every room was free of disorder and most importantly that the guest suite was up to his parents' standards.

Darien was just putting the final touches on a flower arrangement in his parent's suit when the door bell rung.

He took one last look around the suite making sure that it looked pristine. He could hear the distant sounds of his parents greeting Chad and Raye in the background as he straightened the duvet once more. Running through the halls, he tumbled down the stairs to greet his parents, their cheerful welcome interrupted by his dishevelled appearance.

" Darien, you look flushed. And look at the state of your clothes. Darling, you don't even look like you're ready to greet us. You're not even dressed for dinner. Go back upstairs and change out of that shirt while we have drinks." Darien's mother shot him a disapproving look and sucked a sharp breath or air in indicating his immediate obedience. He glared at his sister on his way out. Of course she had time to look all prim and proper. Two minutes with his mother and already he was a ten year old boy. How shocking.

As he exited the room, he caught a sympathetic look from Chad. It was times like these he was glad that the fun loving man was the one to finally tame his sister, or put up with her.

With drinks and preliminary catching up were over with, it was evident that the Shields family was a healthy functioning unit who cared about one another quite a lot, despite the feuding and occasional parental nagging.

It was nearing nine-thirty when the party retired to the living room for tea and biscuits, battling to digest the enormous meal they had shared. A fire crackled merrily in the centre of the room emanating a warm glow.

Nigel Shields cleared his throat. He was a large man, imposing in appearance, yet gentile in nature. The few wisps of grey hair tangled into a head of black were the only signs of aging on the active man's visage. His voice was low and heavy from food and wine and held an air of poise cultivated through generations of good breeding.

"So Chad, you have been a staple in this family for years. You have been a friend to my son and are now engaged to my daughter. So, when should we expect to make your transition into the family official?"

Raye glared furiously at her father who easily ignored her. She knew she was being too hopeful in thinking that her parents would not push marriage sometime that night.

"Father." she warned him with her voice hoping that she would be able to save her fiancé and herself from embarrassment.

"Oh, shush Raye. Your father simply wants to know when we should begin unzipping our wallets for the wedding and gift. If you say you're ready to get married in a month, then we better cancel that trip to Wales. If you say you care to wait another couple of years, well then, we can go ahead and invest in a castle perhaps!"

Darien smiled. Their parents were certainly a set of characters. He watched as Chad's arm instinctively circled Raye's shoulders to soothe her ruffled feathers.

Smiling he responded in good humour. "I'm sorry to say that we do not have a date yet. As you know, we are both working hard in Italy to set up our new art gallery and it is taking a considerable amount of our time. We're putting out the word and we're still waiting to hear from some prominent artists. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the time to plan anything elaborate at the moment, but rest assured that once this project is completed, the wedding will be our next. For now, we are happy and hope that the knowledge that your daughter is safe with me is enough for the time being."

Christine smiled, satisfied to know her daughter had found such a capable and eloquent man. "A very fitting answer Chad," she raised her glass in acknowledgment of him.

Light chatter filled the room around Darien's still body and absent mind. He stared deeply into the hearth, the flames licking the sides of the chimney, dancing and playing with one another. Unbidden, images of a family, a wedding, and a wife burst to life in his mind's eye. Fantasies he had entertained long ago, but ignored in light of power, seemed to ignite like the flames of the fireplace. Confused, yet intrigued by the fantasy of a life defined by more than his work, he allowed his mind to wander to a place where his children played in a garden of flowers while he walked with his wife, a faceless beauty.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by his father's insistence that they all retire for the night. Whether he had been staring into the fire daydreaming for a minute or an hour he did not know, he only prayed no one had noticed his absent minded musings.

----  
Serena stared into space, a warm cup of tea cradled in her hands. She watched out the window as the last hints of light slipped away from the sky and the few bright stars that could be seen in the London sky line winked to life. She sipped the warm liquid and let her eyes fall to the busy streets filled with people enjoying the final moments of the first day of the New Year.

She had spent the day idly enjoying Andrew's company as the two walked around London buying novelties at their hearts whims. Now, as Andrew was out collecting food for their supper, she sat thinking about the one thing she had tried so hard to ignore all day.

He had kissed her. She hated him, found him pompous, annoying, arrogant, an all around complete jack ass and he had solidified those feelings by having the audacity to force a kiss onto her lips. A kiss, she noted as she touched her lips, that she could not forget. Suddenly, an image of his dashing face appeared to her. Shaking her head she stood up abruptly.

She was furious, how dare he assault her as he had. How dare he ruin her New Years Eve?

_'How dare he kiss so well?'_

Again she shook her head, clearing her mind like an etch-a-sketch board. She would not allow him to consume her thoughts. She was a rock. An impenetrable stone and he would not crack through her defences. She didn't need a man in her life complicating her life and she especially did not need to be thinking about anyone as rude and heartless as Darien Shields.

She didn't care that he had kissed her after all. Sure it had been nice after her initial shock. Sure he was good looking and wealthy and suave. But those things did not impress her and neither did his aggressive tendencies. She would stop thinking about the kiss because it meant nothing and he meant nothing. She nodded, as if accepting her mental agreement at the precise moment Andrew pranced into the flat jovially.

"Oh I am going to cook you a feast tonight!"

Serena gave him a sceptical look. Never in his life had he attempted to cook anything remotely close to a feast; and never had any attempt at cooking turned out edible.

"I thought you were going to get take away?" She said with a hint of worry in her voice as she turned her head to speculate the groceries he was now placing onto the counter top.

"Well I passed Sainsbury's and couldn't help myself the pictures of the food on the windows just looked so good. Come on, a home cooked meal to start off the New Year would be nice wouldn't it?"

"You followed a cute girl into Sainsbury's and could only strike up a conversation with her if you pretended to buy things didn't you?"

He paused his unpacking briefly to blush. "She was a _highly sophisticated well put together looking woman_ if you must know."

Serena giggled. Andrew really was something else. Rolling her eyes, she stepped into the kitchen to help her ill equipped cousin out. After all, just because she had once, under purely accidental circumstances, set part of a kitchen on fire didn't mean that her food tasted as bad as Andrew's tended to.

Three hours later the two sat satisfied at the dinner table. "Now what did I say Sere? Wasn't a nice home cooked meal a nice change form all the posh frilly food we've been eating, or the greasy take away?"

She gave him a look half scowl half laugh that suggested otherwise. "What?" He shrunk under her gaze.

"Yes, a good home cooked meal was nice. I just wish we hadn't cooked four of them before getting to this." She motioned to what little was left of their dinner and gave him an accusing look, laced heavily with mirth.

He gave her a sheepish grin once more. "I just wanted things to be perfect."

"Now Andrew it's only you and me here. You don't have to lie." She inclined her head towards him.

"Oh all right, I'm terrible when it comes to the kitchen. How was I supposed to know that touching my eyes after cutting the onions would make it worse? Or that touching yours would make you cry too." She scoffed at his seeming stupidity. "And I am really sorry about the chilli powder. I didn't think it would burn that much. You have to admit it was kind of funny though!"

She glared.

"What…, too soon to laugh at yourself?"

Rolling her eyes she grinned. "Let's wait for my nostrils to stop burning and then we can talk laughing. But I have to admit, this was fun despite all the pain you inflicted on me you sadist. And the part when you almost cut off your toe was highly amusing."

"Hey! That was NOT funny I saw my life flash before my eyes when that knife fell." She giggled. No longer would Andrew be able to call her a klutz. Tonight's experience had proven to her that plain stupidity and klutziness was equally as prevalent in him as it was in her. And she hadn't burned anything!

When Serena was finally able to climb into her bed and under the warm covers she fell heavily into a dreamless sleep.

----

Serena had less than two weeks left of her winter vacation before she was required to re-enter the halls of learning and so she found herself doing what any self-respecting twenty-two year old would do: she shopped.

Four hours, several major shopping areas and two cups of coffee later, Serena strolled empty handed into Harrods at Knightsbridge.

Needless to say, the store was more than too expensive for her tastes but there was no harm in a little bit of high-end window shopping. The elaborate displays were impressive to say the least – the amount of money spent on the decorations in the store alone seemed more than she had ever made in a year. Eventually, Serena found herself in the food court and blanched. Her surroundings were grand and beautiful with the cool tiled floors and arching ceilings. She felt as if she had walked into a ballroom and not a food court packed with people from all walks of life. She looked around herself and marvelled at the array of gourmet "fast food." Everything seemed to be served bar style as there were people sitting on stools eating everything from steak to raw clams. There was champagne and caviar and she was once again taken aback at how much money some could spend on luxury as she chanced a glance at the prices.

Curbing her saliva, she pressed on through the throngs of people and soon found the section of packaged foods. Immediately, her nose and eyes spotted the one thing that brought her to such a lavish department store: a tin of Harrods finest ground coffee. Andrew had purchased her some a couple years back and ever since she had craved the rich flavour. If there was one thing worth spending money on in the store, it was that green tin at the end of the room. She weaved in an out of the crowds, eyes constantly on the prize; she could see one more tin left and it was going to be hers.

And then the terrible happened. Her hands were outstretched, reaching for her neatly packaged Harrods god only to grasp thin air. She felt like a crack addict desperately sucking at syringe looking for her drug only to find that it was gone. Her head hung as she clung to the empty shelf. She was pathetic. Pathetically addicted to coffee and she knew it. Slowly she raised her head in hopes of finding the person who stole her thunder and direct silent death rays in their direction only to stare into a pair of familiar sharp blue eyes.

_He had been shopping on Savile Row picking up a suit or two for the New Year until he'd had a huge craving for the oyster bar in Harrods. It was while he was there finishing the last of his meal when he caught a glimpse of a pair of seductively long legs attached to a certain haunting woman. He watched from behind the crowds as she looked in awe at her surroundings. _

_Wiping his mouth, he paid his bill and slowly followed her into the next section of the store. It had been days since their last encounter and he had yet to untangle her grasp on his mind. Not only did it seem impossible for him to forget their kiss, but it was also becoming increasingly difficult for him to convince himself that all he wanted was her body. Slowly and reluctantly, he was beginning to admit that perhaps he was interested in her as more than just a one night stand. But of course this revelation was occurring very, very slowly like molasses out of a straw. After all, as his heart lamented, he was quite thick. _

He stood casually leaning against the same shelf she was clinging to. He shook the green tin in his hands and gave her a teasing smile but instead of unleashing the teasing comments he had previously concocted for her he pushed the coffee into her hands.

"Take it."

She looked at him sceptically. Thrown off by his presence, she rejected the coffee automatically. "What, do you have so much money that you can get a case of it shipped to you? I don't need your charity."

He rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "Just take the coffee please." She eyed him warily. He was acting completely strange.

"What do you get out of this?" she looked at him with a steely gaze challenging him silently. But it was no use for he no longer had a burning urge to fight her.

He allowed an incredulous scoff-like laugh escape his lips. "Stop being so stubborn and just accept it. It's the holiday season."

"The holiday season just ended."

He rubbed his temples and sighed. "Why are you so difficult? I'm trying to be nice. Just take the damned coffee." His voice was low and she found him a fair bit closer than was necessary. His determination was irritating to say the least and she was incomprehensibly mesmerised by his blue eyes. She felt trapped by his gaze and wondered when they had changed to such a warm hue? Why _was_ she being so difficult anyway? So he was being uncharacteristically nice, that didn't mean that he had any other ulterior motive did it? Of course it did. Deciding, however, that her coffee addiction need not suffer from her stubbornness, she grabbed the tin from him unceremoniously and turned away.

"Have dinner with me tonight at Le Jardin." She stopped dead in her tracks. What was wrong with him?

She rounded on him, built up frustration and anger escaping her lips in a hiss. "I don't know what your deal is Shields, but you can't just grab a girl, kiss her and then a couple days later act as if nothing happened."

"Is that a yes to Le Jardin?" He was acting extremely cool; he had to be sure not to let her see that that kiss had meant a lot more than nothing to him.

"No, it is not a yes. Are you an idiot?" She was careful to keep her voice controlled to a loud whisper so as not to attract the amount of unwanted attraction the two seemed to garner when they were near one another.

"So, a different restaurant then…, perhaps Italian, or Belgian…?"

She frowned at him. Had he knocked his head on something hard? "Ok I don't know what aliens came down and snatched your body but let me spell it out for you. _N-o_, no, no to any restaurant that might pop into your little head, no to you."

She moved to walk away from him again but he quickly side stepped her and brought them face to face. In a soft, serious tone he tried again, all the while bobbing his head in an attempt to catch her eye. "Please, just give me another chance. My New Year's resolution is to try and make things right with you, give me one more shot?"

She frowned and narrowed her eyes. "I've given you shots. I've given you two shots and now you're out of shots."

"Isn't the saying three strikes and you're out not two?"

"Why do you even care? We don't work together anymore and I go to school almost two hours away from you so can't we just pretend we've never met or something?"

"You go to school only about an hour and a half away. And I care because…" He nervously ran his hand through his hair, "I don't really care but if I were to _have_ to give you a reason it would be that you're my best friend's beloved cousin and even if we don't work together we're bound to see one another. As long as you're in this country and Drew's favourite, we _will_ bump into one another. But you know; if you're scared you'll fall for me or something then that's understandable."

_'Now there's thinking on your feet. Good job Shields. Good job.'_ He mentally patted himself on the back.

"Excuse me?" She sputtered. He was full of himself. "Scared of falling for you?"

"That's what I said. I mean, all signs point in that direction. After all, you _clearly_ enjoyed that kiss on New Year's more than me and it's only natural for women to fall head over heals for me."

She stared incredulously at the words spilling out of his mouth. The only consolation prize for his absurd ramblings was that at least he wasn't acting like a pod person anymore.

"I certainly did not enjoy that kiss more than you. In fact I didn't even enjoy the kiss. If anything you are falling for _me!_ I mean I'm not the one pursuing you, now am I?"

"You most definitely did enjoy the kiss; why else would you bring it up in conversation? And I am not pursuing you, I'm challenging you."

"Challenging me to what, putting up with you for a night?"

"No, I'm challenging you _not_ to fall for me in a night." A mischievous glint flickered in his eyes.

"You can't challenge me, because I challenge you. I say you _will _fall for me."

"Fine," he huffed.

"Fine," there was a pause as the two, now slightly flushed parties, stared at one another and processed the dangerous competition they had entered.

"Fine," Serena mumbled under her breath for good measure.

"Fine," Darien mirrored.

"Fine…."

"Fine…."

"_Fine…." _

**"Fine…." **

"Okay, are we just going to repeat the same damned word over and over again or are we going to move forward." She rubbed her brow – this was rapidly turning ridiculous.

"Ah hah! You do want this to more forward," he pointed an accusing finger in her direction but it was quickly swatted away as Serena gave him a 'you are so immature' look.

"Just, state your terms Shields; when and where?" She spoke the words with an air of calm she did not truly feel. She was agreeing to a date with the devil; a date of seduction. She cursed her competitive nature.

"Saturday night. I'll pick you up at six."

Refusing another word, she simply nodded in acquiescence.

Swiftly she walked away before the situation could become grimmer. Saturday, great… that gave her just enough time to have a total system melt down. What in the hell had she just gotten herself into?

1. _Bird_ – slang for woman of either questionable morals, stupid etc and or just a term in reference to a woman.

2. _Knightsbridge/Harrods_ – A very famous department store in England. They have gourmet everything and things are a might bit expensive there! The food court is brilliant though and it's just a sight to see.

3. _Savile Row_ – where designer tailors live. A street filled with stores all about suits – apparently Prince Charles gets his suits in a store on Savile Row – or a store near there. Just a cool expensive street.

Well there you go chapter 7! I hope you all enjoyed that!

**_Next time:_**_ The competition begins, twists and turns and romance ensue. Stay tuned for Chapter 8 of English to English!_

_©2007 Jing2__  
_


	11. Good, Very Good

**Chapter 8: Good. Very Good. **

She paced the length of the apartment, nervously chewing her nails. What had she done? Challenging Darien Shields to a competition of who could seduce the other first? What force of complete idiocy had compelled her to agree a ridiculous bet like that? More importantly, she wondered, how had she let herself be coerced into another uncomfortable meal with him when she knew full well that the two were barely able to make it through ten minutes together?

Wringing her hands she went over the implications of their _arrangement_. She was supposed to seduce Darien Shields, the man who had no doubt gotten an A+ in smooth talking, before he seduced her. Simple. Lucky for her she had no idea how to seduce a man, let alone one so…experienced. She had dug herself a desperately deep hole this time and had no idea how to get herself out.

And why, for the love of god, did four cups of strong coffee consumed like water make her hands shake so violently?

She had to get out of the apartment; she was jittery and crazed. She needed fresh air and quite possibly dialysis. Approximately two blocks away from the flat, heading towards anywhere that would allow her to escape her panicked state, she made an abrupt about face nearly knocking down a small child. It wasn't hard for her to realise that no amount of walking or park therapy was going to cure the spasms in her left eye and the involuntary convulsions she was experiencing. A momentary vision of being arrested for exhibiting signs of some more serious drug withdrawal hastened her path home.

Back in the flat she laid herself gingerly on the sofa, trying to still her body and focus her mind. She needed a plan. Clearly she could not back out of their _date_ now. Her thoughts pulled up short. Even the thought of the word left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. If she cancelled, he would conclude that she had gotten too nervous to face him. He would win and she could not allow him that pleasure. But what if she contracted the plague? Of course! If she were filled to the brim with disease then there was no way she would have to see him on Friday. The plague would keep him away for sure. Sure she would be dead …but death was a small price to pay considering the circumstances right?

She stood up and resumed her pacing. She was being silly. _'Besides, there's no way I'm going to be able to find someone with the plague by Friday. I'll have to go to dinner, impress the socks off of him and make him fall for me. Not like I like him, so his charms will have no effect!' _

Unfortunately, conviction and confidence was a fleeting emotion and as quickly as it had charged through her brain it was chased out by the reality that he would likely see right through her charade. She wasn't exactly Serena Stanton, seductress extraordinaire. She was at best, Serena Stanton, the-girl-next-door. _'Maybe I can just fall on my face enough times that he'll be too embarrassed to be seen with me. That'd be a pretty easy way to win.' _She shook her head. As promising as that route might be, it did involve putting herself through a level of embarrassment even she wasn't sure she'd be able to laugh off.

She needed outside reassurance. Picking up the phone she dialled a number, hastily scribbled on a stray receipt. Lita had better pick up if Serena was going to spend the money on the long-distance call to France.

"Lita, Serena. Talk now. Important. Call me. Andrew's!" The words tumbled out of her mouth in a frenzy as soon as the voice mail beep blared in her ear. She hoped her friend would be able to decipher her vague, caffeine-coded plea.

With nothing better to do and no fresh ideas popping into mind Serena relied on cliché methods of relaxation: she went to take a long hot shower.

Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the bathroom towelling off her hair. Steam rolled behind her as she padded to the blinking light on the answer phone. Praying it was Lita she played the message back.

"Serena, babe, I got your message, this is costing me a fortune. You sounded a little crazy and supersonic. What's wrong? Call me back!"

Glad that Lita was quick to respond, Serena dialled only to be pitifully sent to Lita's voice mail again.

Groaning she left a second message. "Lita! Phone tag is no help. Call back now. Talk must talk, must, must, must talk, talk." She hung up fully aware that coherence was no longer her friend. Falling face down onto the sofa, she sighed and ran over the unsavoury options again. She could cancel and face the humiliation of forfeit – him laughing at her failure or worse, assuming that she liked him. Or she could show up for the date, suffer through a painful night all the while trying desperately to out-seduce him. Then there was "option P" – finding a victim of the plague and while that route seemed the most radical and implausible it was, shockingly, the forerunner of her miserable mind. She needed to talk to someone out loud instead of listening to the crazy person inside her head. Her body sunk deep into the cushions. She revelled in new secret option number four – get eaten by an inanimate object.

The sound of the ringing phone caused Serena to jump from her semi-comatose state. Before the device could sound a second time she was speaking into it.

"LITA?"

"No," the voice on the other line was clearly hesitant to respond to her yelling.

"Sorry, Caldwell Residence."

"You sound a little frazzled Serena. Not worried about our little date are we?" She scowled at the haughty tone, recognising the voice.

"What do you want Shields?"

"I was hoping to speak to Andrew but ruffling your feathers works equally as well."

"You suck," her tone was icy and she wore a slightly vengeful smile as she slammed the phone onto the receiver.

On his end Darien couldn't help but grin; winning their bet would be a piece of cake.

* * *

It had taken three days for Serena and Lita to end their ridiculous game of phone tag. It was a good thing that Lita called when she had, because Serena was in desperate need of some friendly advice before her dreaded encounter. Andrew was, of course, useless, laughing at her predicament and offering lewd comments whenever the opportunity arose.

Despite a reassuring conversation with Lita, her game plan for the night was loose at best. She was not a seductress, she was not some vixen intent on winning his affections, his money, or his love but she was indifferent to his charm and she hoped that would prove to be an ace of sorts. Tonight she would put on an award winning performance. She hoped.

Sitting in the living room, dressed and ready to go, her feet tapped rhythmically as she waited. The sound of the buzzer cut through the silent room like a dagger and she muttered some affirmations to her cause as she buzzed him into the building.

Checking the mirror, she tightened her ponytail, straightened her black blazer and tightened the belt strung through her jeans. Despite all she had done to "prepare", the imagined scenarios, the hours spent in front of the mirror nothing she had imagined or told herself had prepared her for the sight of Darien standing casually in the hall simply dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a white dress shirt, un-tucked and hidden under a warm looking wool coat. He held a single white calla lily in his hands. Serena knew her mouth was ajar; gaping at the innocent smile he flashed her. It was so unfamiliar to Serena that she barely registered when he pressed the flower in her hand and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

"You look lovely tonight Serena."

Startled by his demeanour she felt her eyes involuntarily narrow in irritation; he sure was one sneaky bastard. She'd have to act like a star tonight. Putting on a sweet smile she tilted her head to the left, "thank you. You look very nice yourself."

He smiled again, and she saw his eyes soften even more. How was he doing that? Had he taken lessons on how to control every muscle in his face? There was a moment of awkward silence before she grabbed her purse and locked the door behind her. She felt light pressure as he placed hand on the small of her back, her breath caught involuntarily. He was good. He was very good.

But she could be better.

Stepping away from his touch she flashed him a seductive smile and linked her arm through his as they entered the lift. She looked deep into the centre of the flower and part of her wondered if he knew it was her favourite.

In the back of her mind, some part of her admitted that this quiet, almost shy Darien was one she found dangerously attractive. It was a good thing she knew it was just a façade. She could see how easy it would be to fall for such a well-played act.

The two sat in the car in reasonably comfortable silence. Serena was taking the time to steel her resolve and remind herself of her plan. She would be charming and lovely. She would parry every one of his cunning moves with a cleverer one of her own and a dazzling simile to boot. She would be saccharine sweet when necessary and she would be cool and collected when circumstances called for it. _'Cool as a cucumber'_. She groaned at how cheesy that sounded in her head.

Despite her resolve to stay calm and collected, her jaw dropped when the passenger door opened. She nearly forgot to avoid the frame of the car and just barely avoided a headlong collision with the car in a rush to get a better glimpse of their destination. In front of her stood the most beautiful mansion lit up against the dark night sky.

"Welcome to Somerset House Serena." Gently he took her hand and guided her towards the entrance. They walked slowly and pointed off into the distance towards something Serena had yet to notice, an ice rink in the middle of London.

"What is this place?" Her eyes were glued to the grandeur of the palace she saw before her. She had to hand it to Darien, he sure knew how to blow a girl's socks off.

"You don't listen very well do you?" He noted her glare. "It's Somerset House. Built in the 1500s by Edward Seymour, 'Protector of Somerset' to Edward VI. Since then it has been home to Queen Elizabeth I, the Navy Board, the Royal Academy, Royal Society, and a couple of other things. There's a museum that runs year round and in the summer where the ice rink is now, they hold open-air concerts."

"Thank you very much Mr. Tour Guide." She mocked, but she was impressed by his knowledge. "How do you know so much about this place?"

He shrugged and stared off into the distance, "I enjoy reading brochures."

She eyed him suspiciously, his response seemed a little transparent, but she put the tendril of scepticism out of her mind as Darien dragged her towards the skate rentals.

* * *

"You're sure you've skated before Darien?" She taunted the man clinging to the guard rails of the rink.

He bit his tongue and simply glared. She was annoyingly comfortable on the glass-like surface.

She watched as he pushed himself valiantly into a fully upright position only to curse his way down to his butt.

She bent over him and stuck her tongue out childishly. "Superior skating skills indeed."

Despite all of his taunting as the two were hiring the skates, and the implications that Serena would not match his superior skills it was impossible, as the ice melted beneath his body, to ignore the girl literally skating circles around him.

"How in the hell did you learn to skate so bloody well?" He watched as his breath left his body in a puff, lamenting his previously "brilliant" plan. She was meant to be the one falling, needing him to help her up, not the other way around.

"There are a lot of things you do not know about me Shields, for instance, the fact that I started skating and competing, when I was 5. I stopped when I went to college. "

"You skated all the way up until university?"

"Until _college_ yes." He watched her skate backwards a length before pulling a double axel landing sloppily in front of him. Before she could barrel into him, she caught herself and spun to a halt. "Guess I'm a little rusty" she smiled, unashamed.

He was pleasantly shocked at how she reacted to each misstep. He had assumed that she would be the type to shy away from her mistakes, embarrassed at every fault but she seemed to take every fall as inspiration.

Twenty minutes into her solo skate, Serena realised that skating circles around Darien would not helping her win him over. Extending one hand in a carefree way she tried to coax him into joining her. He looked at her sceptically

"Darien, this is supposed to be a date of sorts. Generally at this point you are meant to partake in date-like activities. In this case, skating with me."

"That's really all right. I think I'll just stand here and watch you."

"Don't be silly. You're the one who decided to do this. I assumed that meant that you at least enjoyed ice skating."

"Can I help that I _recall_ being good at this?" As he said the words his skates slipped out from underneath him and his grip on the railings tightened. "I can't even _stand_ on the ice let alone move, just go with out me." His voice was tight and she could see him getting angry as his inability to impress. It dawned on her that failure was not something he faced very often.

"Don't be stupid, it's no fun skating alone. Besides, I've got you." Ignoring his protests, she grabbed his hand and pulled with a strength he hadn't expected. Suddenly and for the first time that night he was skating.

"See, skating is a lot easier when you move your feet. Friction is reduced to nearly nothing on the ice, which is why standing still is so difficult. There's really barely anything holding you to one spot no matter how hard you try. The sheer weight of your body overcomes what little force there is and all you wallflowers are left with are skates that fall out from underneath you. The more you move better."

He gave her a sceptical look; he had not expected such a scientific reason for pulling him into the centre of the rink. She rolled her eyes at him and quickened their pace. "Just because I study English doesn't mean that I didn't pay attention in physics, especially when it pertained to skating. Besides, shouldn't you be happy that I'm giving you such a rational easy way to remedy the fact that you're flailing like a clown?

He glared. She was enjoying his misery too much. He mentally kicked himself for putting himself in a position where simply speaking threatened to result in an ice-related injury.

Following an hour of patient instruction Darien was gliding, albeit somewhat roughly, around the frozen oval. Serena skated backwards in order to watch Darien's face contort every time he lost balance. All of his energy was focused on keeping his butt from making contact with the ground, again.

"You know Shields you're not so bad when you're struggling to keep your balance."

"Is that a compliment?" he cocked his head the best he could with out throwing his body out of balance.

"If you've never received a single compliment in your life, then yes, sure," she laughed at him.

Offended he rushed forward to nudge her aside but Serena was too quick, too balanced, leaving Darien to land painfully on his face. Outright laughing, she stopped next to him and extended her hand. " Do my eyes deceive me or are you _falling_ for me." She mocked; a wicked grin on her face as the prospects of winning flashed in her mind.

He tugged on her hand eliciting a yelp from her lips as she landed next to him on the cold, hard surface. "No, but I _believe_ that you just fell for me."

It seemed as if their competition was a better social lubricant than any sort of truce could provide.

Despite Darien's improvement, he insisted, after the tenth fall, that it was about time they retire to something they were both good at: sitting and eating. It was a simple but tasty meal paired with good wine and, all things considered, decent conversation that flowed more naturally than expected. The endless flow of anecdotes concerning their blonde friend helped set the stage for more personal conversations. Their dinner was running so smoothly in fact that it was difficult, at times, for the two to remember just how much they disliked one another.

Serena explained to Darien how she had always wanted to study in England, after all, what better place was there to complete an English Masters degree than Oxford. She told him how much she enjoyed the people she worked with and how fulfilling it was to be learning new things each day.

"If you've wanted to live here for so long, and like England so much, why do you so adamantly keep to your American roots?"

"Maybe I do that only around you." She quipped.

"Do you?"

She eyed him, wondering if he was asking because he was curious or to antagonise her. "At school first term, a classmate asked me to meet him for a drink at 'half-one.' Naturally I figured, one o'clock halved is twelve thirty?"

Darien allowed a small smile slip through, anticipating the misunderstanding that had likely arisen.

"So there I am, sitting at this local pub alone, it's one fifteen, and I'm so annoyed having been stood up that I did what any other normal girl expecting someone to cheer up her gloomy week would do. I phoned him up and offered a few choice phrases and ignored him anytime he tried to talk to me. You're laughing at me now so I bet you realised just how embarrassed I was when another friend explained that half-one means half-_past-_one." She hung her head a little and chuckled to herself.

"It was so embarrassing having to apologise after walking out on him for a week straight." She shook her head at the memory. "I have to admit, half-one is much easier to say, and a lot easier to type in a text message than one-thirty." She saw him quirk his eyebrow, "I'm lazy, what can I say?"

Her eyes glittered as she recounted stories of various misunderstandings. It had taken her a long time to refer to the toilet as a toilet in public. "…because in the states, it's considered proper to ask for the 'restroom'. So I'm on this short road trip, to the Lake District, and we stop by this little souvenir shop, I go up to the lady behind the counter and ask for the restroom. She looks at me with these sad eyes and says in the most apologetic voice, 'dear, we don't have a restroom, but if you're tired you can rest right here' and pulls the stool right out from underneath her to give me. I was mortified."

She paused and stared into her wine glass. "I do love it her, it's better than where I was before, but I'm still going to say an elevator is an elevator, because I _am_ American. It's my home for better or worse. And if doing so bother you so much, well that's just an added bonus now isn't it?"

Darien smiled at her grinning face. He should have been offended, but instead he was amused. Months ago, he would have assumed any encounter like the ones she had described would have been cause for Serena to mock and dismiss the British culture. And yet there she was, embracing the idiosyncrasies between the languages.

* * *

They walked into the night slowly picking their way through the streets.

"Do you ever wonder why we keep roping ourselves into these ridiculous bets?" Her quiet voice barely broke their silence, but it was nonetheless a piercing comment.

"Are you complaining?" He felt her press into his arm, whether purposely or because she seemed unable to walk in an entirely straight line he wasn't too sure.

"Maybe not this time." This time he was sure she pressed closer to him on purpose. He felt his lips curve a little. It seemed winning would be easier than he thought.

It was nearly midnight by the time they arrived at Andrew's door.

"So, I think it's safe to say that I won tonight's bet?" His eyebrows danced on his forehead taunting her.

She stared straight into his eyes, eye lashes batting coy like as she slid her hand from his chest to the back of his neck. She pulled herself into his arms, moving slowly into a kiss. His eyes were lidded in anticipation but her mouth brushed past his lips and upwards until her breath tickled his ear. "You sure about that?" His heart thumped once before a cold rush of air caught the hair standing up on the back of his neck. Taking a deep calming breath, he opened his eyes just in time to watch her close the flat door with a silent click.

She was good. She was very good.

* * *

**Answer Phone - Answering Machine/Voice Mail

**A/N: **So after a ridiculously long hiatus, there is chapter 8. Revised probably about four times and ready for your approval. Thanks to my editor GalenaSteel who possibly doesn't remember editing this so long ago, but with out whom this chapter would not have read nearly the same way.

I'm going to try and post again soon, so hopefully there won't be another 2 year lag in updates. I hope you enjoy this one.

Thanks again to everyone who has stuck with me for so long despite my obvious inability to stick to an update time.

Cheers,  
Jing

_©Jing2. Aug.2009_


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